Dimensions Book Five: Demons
by Blazing Chaos
Summary: A genocidal maniac is on the loose in the present, a blonde teenager is returning from the past, and you don't even want to know what lays in wait in the future. But we all have to face up to our Demons sometime... Rukato
1. Her Uncomfortable Truth

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

And so the fifth book arrives, after a short confusing glimpse of the future in "Acts of War", an Extra Dimensions story, that I presume most of you have read.

Unlike the previous books, this one will be set completely within Tokyo (probably, unless I seriously change my plans), and will also virtually all be within the same day, making it an interesting book to write. No time zones and faraway locations to bother with (which, despite being interesting, after doing it four books in a row gets tiresome, although it is by no means not returning), and a nice mix of talk and action, with some surprises to boot. This will also be slightly darker in tone than previous books, particularly if I can pull off some of the events I have planned correctly.

Thanks to all those that have reviewed up to now, by the way, as well as my many readers.

And so, on with the tale, after an age update (some Tamers have had their birthdays between these two books):

Kari, TK, Yolei – 15

Takato, Rika, Kazu, Davis, Henry, Kazu, Ryo, Jeri, Ken – 16

Mimi – 18

Tai, Sora, Matt, Izzy, Joe – 19

Ai and Mako – 5

Suzie – 10

Cody, Kristy – 11

**WARNING: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOOKS ONE TO FOUR AND THEIR ASSOCIATED EXTRA DIMENSIONS STORIES FIRST, THERE IS A MASSIVE SPOILER A SHORT WAY DOWN THIS CHAPTER THAT WILL RUIN THE FIRST FEW BOOKS FOR ANYONE NEW. FIND THE OTHER BOOKS VIA MY PROFILE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

* * *

_**DIMENSIONS**_

**BOOK 5 – DEMONS**

**CHAPTER 1**

_Her Uncomfortable Truth_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**09:05 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Rika's eyes faded as they glazed over, Dr Imai watching as the realisation swept over her. She seemed to shiver, hairs on her skin standing on end. Dr Imai looked on with concern at her reaction, as she sat for an entire minute without speaking, and, unbeknownst to Dr Imai, but noticed by Harmony, without even thinking as the shock swept over her.

When she finally spoke, her voice sounded broken, hoarse and weak, her forcing the question through to ask.

"Are…are you sure?" she asked.

Dr Imai nodded. "I ran the test several times…you're about five weeks pregnant…" she replied.

Rika blinked, her blank expression continuing.

"I understand that this may be surprising news to you?" Dr Imai asked. Rika nodded subtly, mouth still hung slightly open where it had been for a while. "Do you wish to talk to someone?"

"No…" Rika replied quickly, before backing her reaction up with an explanation. "I just…want a chance to think about things…"

"Do you want me to leave the room?"

"No…please, don't go…" Rika told her. Dr Imai noticed the sheer contrast between this girl and the one she had occasionally seen during battles on the television. That Rika seemed to be determined, confident, and independent. This Rika seemed hesitant, vulnerable and lonely.

Rika lay her head down on the pillow, looking at the white ceiling above, seeing random shapes cross her vision.

'**Rika?'**Harmony asked, caution in her voice.

'_What?'_ Rika replied.

'**Are you okay?'**

'_What do you think?'_ Rika replied spitefully.

'…'

Rika finally began to put coherent thoughts together, as she tried to get her head around what she had been told. _'Okay…so I'm pregnant…it's definitely Takato's…I'm 16 and still in school…I'm also an active Digimon Tamer…and part of a God…what the hell do I do?'_

Rika sat up, looking into the doctor's eyes.

"What do I do?" she asked quietly.

"That is up to you I'm afraid…" the doctor replied, her voice a mix of care and concern for the girl in front of her.

Rika sighed, staring into blank air again.

"Don't answer if you don't feel comfortable with it, but, do you know who the father is?" the doctor asked.

Rika nodded. "Yeah, I do…" she replied, still quietly.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Of course…" Rika replied. Dr Imai was thankful to see some confidence in her voice; it implied that she was still in a relationship with whoever the father was. "Eventually…" Rika added. "I've just got to get my head round things first…"

"Well, if you do decide to have the child, then I will be your Doctor throughout the pregnancy, if you wish…"

Rika smiled bravely; glad to know that she had some support. "Thanks…" she replied quietly.

Dr Imai passed her a card. "It's got my number written on it, if you ever need anyone to talk to, simply call it…" she said smiling, as Rika took the card thankfully. "I suggest that you get some rest, you did get injured regardless…" she added.

Rika nodded, as she stood up off the bed. "Thanks…" she told the doctor, her expression and behaviour still well out-of-the-ordinary, her face mostly blank. She walked to the door.

"Good luck…" the doctor told her. Rika smiled weakly and nodded, leaving the room.

* * *

**09:12 JST**

Takato smiled thankfully to see Rika arriving back at the waiting room, although was slightly curious as to the considerable amount of time she spent in the room, given that it was only minor injuries by their standards, himself having received similar injuries in the past and simply being able to walk them off, given that they were normally in the hospital-free Digital World when it occurred. He decided not to ask so as not to create an awkward situation, and stood up to greet her, Rumiko doing likewise. Seiko and Kristy stayed seated, and Renamon stood against a nearby wall silently, panning her head to watch her Tamer arrive. Guilmon and Kudamon watched with curiosity, as Calumon floated up onto Rika's head cheerfully.

"Everything okay?" Takato asked, after a quick embrace with Rika, which she seemed to resist oddly. She seemed shaken for some reason, but he decided not to ask right now, saving it for a time later when it would be more private.

"Yeah…" she replied, her voice weak and lacking the normal confidence with which she did things.

"Thank goodness…" Rumiko told her.

"What do you want to do now then?" Takato asked.

"I…I just want to get some bed rest if you don't mind…" Rika replied. Seiko cocked an eyebrow at her granddaughter's unusual behaviour, but decided to leave it for the time being.

"Sure…" Takato replied, his voice now unconfident as well, unsure how to deal with Rika's strange mood swing.

"Are you okay?" Calumon asked, optimistic as ever, peering over the top of Rika's head.

"I'm fine…" Rika replied, irritancy in her voice. "Just tired…that's all…" she replied, walking past her partners and Takato, Renamon quickly following as Calumon leapt off her red hair and onto the ground, curiosity crossing his features.

"What's wrong with Rika?" Guilmon asked.

"I'm not sure boy…" Takato replied. "I'll try and talk to her…"

"Can you take her and Kristy home? I've got to go food shopping or it'll be my daughter's poisonous dinners again" Seiko asked, chuckling.

"Hey!" Rumiko complained.

"Sure, I'll take them home, don't worry about it…" Takato told the older woman humbly and reassuringly.

"Thanks…and I presume you're going back to work dear?" she added, turning to Rumiko.

"Yes, I left in the middle of a photo shoot…" the blonde replied.

Kristy stood up. "Let's get moving, or my sister will be miles away by the time we find her…" Kristy said to Takato glumly. Takato nodded, as he was followed by Guilmon, Kristy and Kudamon out of the hospital, Calumon having as usual, vanished, either to terrorise the nurses, or to make them amazed at how cute he was. Seiko and Rumiko went in different directions to him and Kristy, as they came to a standstill.

"We lost her…" Takato complained. Renamon appeared out of thin air, cancelling her perception filter and scaring Takato, but not the eleven year old next to him.

"Hey Renamon, do you know where Rika went?" Kristy asked. Renamon nodded, and gestured for them to follow.

Hurrying slightly, they soon caught up with the redhead, although by her slow pace and distracted nature, it was clear their haste was unneeded.

"Rika, are you sure you're…" Takato began.

"I'm fine!" Rika insisted, breaking out of her distraction as they headed towards the Nonaka household. Takato frowned, Rika was acting very strangely, and he wanted to find out what was wrong, but she wasn't helping.

'**She's crazier than usual…'**

Takato mentally nodded unsurely. _'I'm not sure, she's acting strangely…it's odd…what's wrong with her?'_

'**That time of the month?'**

Takato sighed. _'She was acting her normal self this morning, what the hell happened in the Doctor's surgery?'_

'**Takato, I know it's really strange for me to say this, but maybe you should just mind your own business.'**

'_Huh?'_

'**I don't normally buy all that touchy-feely crap, but if something's bugging her, you just have to wait until she feels comfortable to tell you. Rika of all people isn't the type to just tell people easily if something is bugging her, and it surprises me that you of all people haven't realised that.'**

'_I guess…'_

'**Good, now shut the hell up so I can go back to sleep…'**

* * *

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**09:25 JST**

Riley sighed and leaned back in her seat, looking over her coloured control panel, with its incredible combination of buttons that changed based on context that required skill to operate effectively, and quickly, providing them job security for as long as Hypnos existed. Yamaki sat below, and Tally in the opposite chair, as the tedium of the day resumed after the earlier attack. Rika had been reported to be fine, and it seemed that they were in for another uneventful day. Riley absent-mindedly scrolled through the information, checking everything was as it should be.

"It's been so quiet recently…" Tally complained. Riley nodded, apart from the attack the day before and an attack two weeks ago, bioemerges had been extremely limited. Normally there would be at least one a week, but lately it had been so incredibly quiet. It gave them - rather in most cases the Monster Makers who had become like Hypnos' programming team - a chance to work on various programs, refining them and improving them, but it still felt strange that the quantity of bioemerges had cut back all of a sudden.

'_Ever since the battle with Yggdrasil, all our systems have been gathering dust…what's going on in the Digital World?'_ Riley thought. "Sir…" she called out.

Yamaki clicked his lighter, and looked up at his current girlfriend, although he would never use that term to describe their relationship. "Yes Riley?" he asked.

"Sir, do you think it is worth running a scan on the Digital World?" she asked.

"Why exactly?"

"I am curious as to the infrequency of bioemerges lately sir," she replied, their relationship not leading to the dropping of terms of politeness and hierarchy from speech.

"Same, it seems really strange that we've gone from multiple ones a week to a situation where one a fortnight is likely…" Tally added.

Yamaki nodded. "Okay then, go ahead, run the scan and report back with your findings…"

Riley nodded. "Thank you sir…"

She began to type away on the keyboard, figures flashing up on the wrap-around screens as she did so.

* * *

**Nonaka Residence**

**09:45 JST**

Rika, continuing her blank nature, turned the key in the lock and opened the front gate to her home, Kristy standing curiously behind alongside a nervous Takato. The gate swung open and they crossed the short distance to the front door, which she opened, entering the house. She slipped off her shoes, before walking down the hallway along the side of their home. Takato and Kristy looked to each other in confusion as Renamon decided to follow the redhead. Takato swiftly followed herself, Guilmon about to follow.

"Guilmon, do you want to play tag in the yard?" she asked. Guilmon nodded, concern for his partner and Rika in his tone as he spoke.

"Sure…" the dino replied.

"Kudamon, are you going to play?" Kristy asked. Kudamon thought about it for a second. "Come on, you never play…"

Kudamon sighed. "Okay then…" he replied. Kristy smiled.

"Good…" she said, as they stepped out into the back yard.

* * *

"Rika, are you okay?" Takato asked, opening the door to her room gently. He noticed Rika lying on top of her futon, and Renamon standing silently against the wall nearby, looking at her Tamer, eyes running deep with concern. Renamon glanced to Takato, a move which Rika didn't do at the same time. 

"Yes…" Rika replied, still staring at the ceiling.

"You don't seem okay…" Takato said, sliding the door closed gently and looking down at Rika.

"I'm fine…" Rika insisted.

Takato sighed, and sat on the floor, remembering Chaos' words of earlier. He resisted continuing to pursue the subject, and decided to talk about something else.

"That was the first bioemergence in two weeks…" he noted. Rika nodded glumly, looking over and noticing that he had changed the subject.

"Yeah…" she replied, lacking interest in what he was saying. Takato sighed, listening to the girl and the dino play outside, along with cries for Kudamon to join in the game of tag they were playing more than he was, and calls to avoid falling in the pond. The cheerfulness contrasted greatly with what Takato saw as an unjustified negativism in the air inside Rika's bedroom, or at least something along those lines. He moved towards Rika, still confused as to what had happened between just over an hour ago, when they sat calmly in the park, her on his lap with his arms around her waist, pausing only to complain about Kristy, and now, Rika being distant and Takato being left completely unsure of what he should do. Even Renamon had no idea what to do, simply watching as Takato moved to sit next to Rika, the later still lying on the futon. He smiled to her, and she smiled back, an obviously fake smile to him, hiding her real emotions, before she closed her eyes.

The sounds of outside continued, including the sound of Kudamon and Guilmon running into each other, and Kristy telling the dino to get off the ferret before he was squashed flat as a pancake. Takato stood up, and walked to the door, sliding it open to get a look, and in the process not eliciting more than a sideways glance from Rika, who still didn't move from her position on top of the futon. She opened her eyes, looking back to the ceiling again.

"Are you okay?" Takato asked.

"Yes, I told you I'm fine!" Rika insisted, sitting up, now vexed, before her anger subsided. Takato and Kristy looked back to her, Kristy now standing outside the room with Guilmon and Kudamon.

"Um…I was talking to Kudamon…" Takato said nervously.

"Fine…" Rika replied, still slightly irritated, as she began listening to their conversation from behind them.

"I am fine thank you…" Kudamon replied, politely as ever.

"This garden is too small, Guilmon's going to squash someone soon…" Kristy said to Takato. "I wanna go to the park…"

"You want me to come with, don't you?" Takato asked, cottoning on to what Kristy was implying.

"Yeah, after what happened this morning…plus, I want Guilmon to play too, and I can't remember how to get back to where you live to return him…"

"Hey, I'm not an object!" Guilmon complained.

"You squash like an object…" Kudamon noted, maturely and calmly despite the arrogant nature of what he said, as Guilmon moaned in complaint. Takato turned to face Rika, who was still sitting up watching his dialogue with Kristy and the Digimon.

"Do you mind if I go take Kristy to the park?" Takato asked nervously.

"Go ahead…" Rika replied monotonously. Takato sighed.

"Thanks…" Kristy said to her sister, as she dragged Takato away, Guilmon and Kudamon following, the former Digimon pausing only to take a quick glance to his lover, who nodded in response.

Rika sighed, and looked up at the ceiling, placing her hand on her still-flat stomach. Renamon sighed, completely unsure how to approach this situation without getting the same response that Takato got in his attempts, as she heard the front door to the home close.

It was going to be one of those days.

* * *

**Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**09:46 JST**

Despite the sheer power of the computers that Hypnos had to hand, power that most video gamers would wet themselves over the concept of, it still took a full twenty minutes to complete the scan of the now vast Digital World, due to it consisting now of all four former quadrants.

The scan itself was harmless, it simply involved reading every piece of data, creating a record, and sorting those records into categories of data, such as Digimon, landscape, buildings, Digital Gnomes and Unknown, the last category of which was normally mostly empty. The scan also created a map of the Digital World, which thanks to the increased size of it, took up most of the screen, or had to be displayed at a low zoom level.

The scan, despite its quick running time and lack of effect on Hypnos' monitoring duties, was rarely used, ranging from once a month to once every six months, Hypnos' duties normally only concerned with the real world, and the bioemergences into it.

"The scan is complete sir…" Tally told Yamaki.

"Bring up the data…" he ordered. The doors slid open, and Yamaki turned and frowned to see one of the random assistants of Hypnos', looking like he was staring into the face of a lion.

The man gulped, he had been told to report the news to Yamaki, since he was the youngest member of the team downstairs, and hence made to do all the menial tasks that no-one older would even think of doing. Yamaki was known to be an imposing boss, making relatively pleasant conversation only with his top level operatives, namely Riley and Tally, and the Monster Makers, namely Tao, AKA Janyuu Wong, Dolphin, AKA Rob McCoy, Curly, AKA Rai Aishuwarya, Babel and Daisy, whom's real names the man was yet to learn, and of course, Shibumi, AKA Gorou Mizuno, who seemed to be one of the few kind people in this department, despite his dreamer nature leading to much confusion in the man about Shibumi's ideas. The man coughed nervously, before preparing to begin to speak.

"What is it?" Yamaki asked irritated.

The man coughed nervously. "Well…sir…you see…"

"If it is not important to the Digital Monster situation then go away…"

"A building collapsed in Tokyo…" the man replied, nervously still.

"Is it traceable to a Digimon?" Yamaki asked.

"We haven't tried yet…"

"Then go away and find out, we do not have the time to mess around with whatever is in the news today!" Yamaki shouted.

"Yes sir…" the man replied nervously, turning and leaving via the sliding doors as quickly as his feet would take him.

"The incompetence…" Yamaki scowled to himself.

He turned his attention back to his operatives and the wrap-around screen, now displaying a series of figures and data in labels with arrows pointing to a map of the Digital World, all moving dynamically as they scrolled through them.

"Anything of interest?" he asked.

"Still looking sir…" Tally asserted, slightly peeved that she was expected to somehow analyse such high quantities of data in such a quick time.

"World size is basically same as in last check…" Riley quoted soon after, analysing the data.

"Natural increases of complications of data in world due to natural entropy of internet…" Tally added.

After a few moments, Riley made a sound of surprise, as she began to flick through the data.

"What is it?" Yamaki asked.

"One second…" Riley replied, voice having more than a hint of agitation. "Just checking something…"

Yamaki frowned, and clicked his lighter. Despite kicking the habit associated with the device years ago, it had become a signal of his stress, and the clicking was something that drove Riley and Tally mad every day until they got used to it. The clicking accompanied tedium or tension, and exactly which was normally hard to tell unless you knew the current situation.

"Tally, bring up the data for number of Digimon on a graph, using the previous sets of results as well…" Riley told her colleague, who nodded.

"Doing so…"

Yamaki looked up at the data, as it formed. It was a graph, plotted with the results for the past year of each time they had run the scan. Up until five weeks prior, it zigzagged up and down only slightly, every fall met by an increase in the rate of new Digimon, every rise met by a decrease in the rate of new Digimon.

However, suddenly and seemingly for no reason at all, at five weeks the quantity tailed off, sloping downwards all of a sudden over the past two sets of results, including the latest set collected that day.

"What's going on?" Yamaki asked. "The number of Digimon is…decreasing?"

"It would explain the decreased rate of bioemergence…" Tally noted.

"What is causing it though?" Yamaki asked.

"That's a good question…" Riley replied.

"Any sign of the D-Reaper?" Tally asked. Riley shook her head.

"No, it seems like a natural decrease. The number of Digimon naturally decreases as they kill each other and load data, but the creation rate has fallen to zero. The Digital World is in terminal extinction" Riley explained, a concerned tone in her voice.

"Call Janyuu and his son, along with the Monster Makers, immediately, this is something that will be of importance to them" Yamaki ordered.

"Doing so…" Riley replied, dialling the first number of several, the Monster Makers inevitably having to postpone their weekend plans. _'I hope they have some idea what is going on…'_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so we begin with another story, the sub-plot and main plot taking form (guess which one is which). A mix of emotional stuff with Rika in this chapter with the technical details of Hypnos' operation. Please review. 

Next time…

Will Rika tell anyone, let alone Takato? When Takato does inevitably find out, how will he react? What is wrong with the Digital World, and can they prevent it?

Find out in 'Her Confession', Chapter Two of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	2. Her Confession

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

As you may have grasped by now, all the chapters in this story will begin with a possessive pronoun (My, His, Her, Their), in a style inspired by Scrubs.

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

_Her Confession_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Nonaka Residence**

**10:01 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Renamon stood, quietly staring at her partner, still lying on top of the futon, silently contemplating something that she lacked any knowledge of. She secretly cursed that she had not followed Rika into the Doctor's surgery, despite not wishing to prey on the edge of her vision as she concentrated on checking Rika's injuries.

Regardless, a lifetime of battling, and seeing her Tamer and her fellow Tamers fight and be injured in battle, had taught her that the injuries Rika received, naturally similar to her own, were hardly a thing to be concerned about. They were mere grazes and bruises, caused by scraping across the concrete of the playground.

Which brought her back to her initial concern: what was wrong with Rika?

Rika was not the kind to be put down by injury, certainly not, she'd normally let it drive her on with vigour and it would normally result in a spectacular win, or, in the case of Kitsunemon, Renamon shuddering at the limited memory she had of that event, at least a win.

Rika was also not the kind to be affected this harshly by her back and forth with her sister before the battle. In fact, the vixen recalled in particular that they reconciled during the battle, and this she would expect to have alleviated the problem. This reaction was also far beyond what she expected from her Tamer for a simple fall-out with her sister, an event that had become a non-event considering its regularity, particular when Rika was in a particularly bad part of her month, when even Takato became afraid of her mood swings, which became far heightened beyond even her normal mood swings, an event that seemed to have died down the previous month when Renamon noted Rika did not try to kill, or at least get revenge on, her sister, by placing water in her cereal, milk in her toothpaste, tying Kudamon by the tail and hanging him from the ceiling, or, in some cases, all of the above.

In fact, the past month had been particularly calm, both due to that factor and the fact that, apart from that morning's bioemergence and that of a Drimogemon in Tokyo University two weeks prior, an event quickly dealt with by Sora, Matt and Izzy (an event later complained about by Tai, who had skipped a class in order to lie in bed all of that particular morning), there had been basically no Digimon attacks for over a month, leading to Rika at one point joking that Renamon would go rusty, and that they would have to keep practicing, pointing out potential practice targets as Guilmon, a target that Renamon had objected to, and Terriermon, one that Renamon had absolutely no objections to, or indeed to limiting it only to non-violent practice, or Rika joining in with a set of frying pans, a convenient threat that, despite the fact that it was never going to actually happen, had kept the dog-bunny generally quiet for a week.

A very strange week, Ryder had noticed, but Henry suspected that Terriermon was using other methods of annoyance when all the dishes, pans and cutlery in Henry's house mysteriously vanished and were assembled into a makeshift castle in the hideout in Shinjuku Park patrolled at night by an ever-enthusiastic Calumon, a construction that Renamon, accompanied by Rika and a power modify card, then used for practice, ironically fulfilling their need for battle, and leading to Terriermon being far more annoying during the following week, until Rika 'borrowed' a frying pan or two of her own during a Tamer's visit to the Wong Family apartment, and accomplished her revenge, thus restoring the status quo, not before Guilmon ate a spoon and had to be given the Heimlich manoeuvre by Renamon, a procedure she was not only happy to give both for Guilmon's wellbeing and her intimacy with him (something particularly lacking thanks to Kristy insisting on playing tag with him and Kudamon or Calumon whenever she insisted on following Rika to the park, which was almost every day), but, due to experience from pretty much every single month since Guilmon somehow developed an allergy of sorts to a particular otherwise indistinguishable type of bread that Takato continued to clumsily place in his bag when he and Guilmon went to the park, well trained to give as well.

Returning to her current situation, Renamon knew that, despite being her partner and having even become one with her (although now since they first became Goddramon, that was now not such an exclusive club), Rika would not tell her what was concerning her when asked, if she didn't even tell Takato when he asked, or her sister for that matter as well. She considered asking Harmony what the problem was, who, thanks to a general agreement between the two who shared the same body, a similar agreement to that which Takato shared with his obsessively destructive (and yet at the same time obsessively caring about pebbles, leading to some odd events when they went to the seaside involving talking to the worn down grey rocks), was freely allowed to switch into and out of control when she felt like it, which was, thankfully for everyone else's sanity, only occasionally. However, Renamon knew that this would at the same time be likely to be seen by Rika as an abuse of their trust and trickery regarding herself, so she decided against it.

Renamon realised that she would not be able to attempt to find out what was bothering Rika, because it would never be a successful attempt. She would merely have to wait for her partner to tell her, be it hours, days, weeks…

"Renamon…" Rika interrupted the Kitsune's musings. "Can we talk?" she asked, her voice lacking its normal determination.

"Of course…" Renamon replied, inwardly hoping that this was her chance to find out what was concerning the redhead.

"Good…" Rika replied, breathing an unexpected sigh of relief. "I have to tell you something…"

Renamon stood fully up from her position on the wall, and walked over to her partner, sitting down cross-legged on the floor near her as Rika sat up somewhat.

"**This may need explaining somewhat, as I'm not sure what your familiarity is with human conditions…" **Harmony noted, the pair seemingly working in sync, an event that seemed a postcursor to them having a mental conversation, of the type that even Renamon was rarely, if ever, privy to the details of.

Rika nodded in response to what Harmony had said, as Renamon looked to Rika with questioning blue orbs, concerned as to what Harmony meant. "Rika, do you have an illness of some kind?" Renamon asked.

Rika shook her head, laughing uncomfortably once. "No, not exactly…" she replied.

"Then what is it?" Renamon asked, Rika noticing a look of concern take on her features.

Rika breathed in deeply, preparing herself for what she was about to say, as Harmony did a last minute scan for the presence of other sentient life forms in the vicinity. These consisted of Rika Nonaka, Harmony, a weaker signal, presumably the baby, Renamon, and two goldfish in the pond outside, one of whom thought he was called Barry and that he was from Newport in South Wales. He also appeared to be completely insane, and continually tried to consult the other goldfish, who had no idea what he was talking about because he was a regular bog-standard goldfish. (1)

In other words, no intelligent life in the vicinity besides those that Rika wished to hear.

"I'm pregnant…" Rika spoke finally, the words similar to ripping off a band-aid. Rika looked up, eager (but at the same time fearing) to see Renamon's reaction.

"I've heard the word…" Renamon began. "But what exactly does it mean?" she continued.

"It means…" Rika began, coughing nervously. "That about 8 months from now, I'm going to have a child…"

Renamon stared blankly at Rika, realisations dawning on her. "What?" she asked, now completely stumped.

"Well, you remember five weeks ago, when we were in New York…on the night when DarkRenamon attacked you and Guilmon…when I asked you to stay outside…"

"Oh, that…" Renamon said in realisation. "…so…Takato is the father?"

Rika nodded. "Yeah…" she replied, unsure of exactly how to explain it to Renamon.

"Did you intend to…?"

"No…"

"Did Takato intend to…?"

"No…"

"Whose fault was…?"

"Mine mainly, I asked him to…"

"What are you going to do?"

Rika sighed, looking to the ceiling once again. "I have no idea…"

"Can you prevent…"

"Yes…"

"Are you going to?"

"Probably not…"

"So what is your main concern?"

"Coming to terms with the fact I'm going to have a child, and telling Takato as well…not to mention my parents…"

"I see…by the sounds of it, you are expecting to find that to be difficult?"

Rika nodded. "This isn't exactly usual for girls of my age, most women tend to have children in their twenties or thirties…I'm still in school…"

Renamon sighed. "I see…"

"Although, it is going to be interesting seeing my mother's reaction in particular…she had me when she was nineteen…I've always wondered if that was why my father left when I was young…"

"How do you expect Takato to react?"

"That's the reason I told you first…I expect that, knowing Takato, he'll faint for several hours, and then when he wakes up he'll either faint again when he realises that it wasn't a dream, or rather a nightmare, or he'll really struggle to come to terms with it himself…"

"When do you plan to tell him?"

"No idea…I have yet to come to terms with the fact that I'm going to give birth myself…let alone to be able to be confident enough to help him come to terms with the fact he'll be a father…"

Renamon sighed, and looked into the eyes of her partner, as the redhead smiled bravely back and put her hand on her belly.

"This is going to change our lives forever…"

"Rey must have known about this…" Renamon noted, as Rika nodded in response.

"She hinted at it so many times…" Rika replied, the realisation dawning on her. "On the day Takato and I…did it…she said that I couldn't possibly…conceive…oh…"

"And she also told you to go to the hospital on this day…"

"And that is what confuses me the most about Rey..."

"What?"

"She's changing history, but she seems to be a part of it in the first place. Like…she's destined to travel back in time…and cause all these events to occur!"

Renamon nodded. "I am not sure how I can advise you but…I will assist you if I can…"

"Thanks…" Rika replied, truly smiling for the first time in hours, and noticing that Renamon met it with a smile of her own, subtle since Renamon's mouth was hidden underneath her snout. Rika, however, was able to tell Renamon's true emotions through experience, an ability that she suspected Guilmon had, and that Takato was developing.

Rika lay her head back down on the futon's pillow-like top, and sighed.

"Renamon, no offense, but while talking to you got a load off my chest; it didn't exactly help me come to terms with things…"

"My apologises…" Renamon replied.

"You don't need to apologise, it's not your fault…" Rika replied, smiling to reassure the vixen. "But I do need to talk to someone slightly more human…" she added.

"No offense taken…" Renamon replied, noting Rika's glance to see her reaction to that. Rika chuckled lightly. "Who do you have in mind?" Renamon asked.

Rika looked to the door, the light glinting off the pond in the garden, currently dominated by a goldfish that was trying to escape it and creating ripples as well as a gentle pinging noise as water splashed about.

"It'll have to be a woman…" Rika replied. "Dr Imai…" she began, eliciting a confused glance from Renamon. "My doctor…gave me a number to call if I needed to talk to someone…but…I think I'd like to talk to someone else first…"

"Any ideas in particular?" Renamon asked.

"Well…my parents are completely out of the question, as are any other adults…I'd prefer not to be judged thank you very much…"

Renamon sighed, and nodded in response. "Jeri?" she asked.

Rika shook her head. "She's nice, but I'm not sure that she's exactly the person to talk to…particularly if, Goddramon forbid, Terriermon starts blabbing, or blackmails it out of Elecmon…"

"Yolei?"

"Are you kidding?!"

"Mimi?"

"Too fashion obsessed, as well as having her head in the clouds. I get enough of that with Takato…"

"Sora?"

"Too far away, I'm not even sure where her university is, let alone where her dorm room is."

"Mari?"

"Maybe…I guess I could at least visit her, and see if I feel okay talking to her about it…it also depends if Ryder is there or not…"

Renamon nodded. Regardless of her lack of a partner, Mari had effectively become a member of their team of Tamers. Due to her particular circumstances, she had become mature beyond her years, and of all people she was least likely to look down on Rika, knowing how incidents can change someone's life forever. Rika and Mari had, despite their differences, become friends.

But, even with that, would Rika really be able to talk to her about her new situation?

* * *

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**10:15 JST**

Henry tapped his fingers on the brass bar running around the lift to ease the tension that had accumulated. Any visit to Hypnos prompted by a call from Yamaki was always particularly important, mainly since Yamaki was, despite events since the early days of the Tamers, still uneasy about calling the Tamers out on anything, added to by the fact that the Tamers dealt with bioemerges all on their own regardless. Therefore, this visit could only mean ill, unless it were to be like when they learnt about the New York trip, which was a bright star in a dark night, before being effectively extinguished by the events of that trip.

Terriermon sat on his head, looking over at his Tamer's agitated tapping, while Janyuu, Henry's father and a member of the Monster Makers, stood nearby, similarly agitated.

"What's eating ya?" Terriermon asked bluntly.

"The general feeling that this trip to Hypnos will be for bad news…" Henry replied. "Added to which is the fact that we've seen no other Tamers heading her, nor were we told to call any of them before coming."

"Maybe Rika's gone missing?" Terriermon mooted.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"She deserves it after the frying pans!"

"You built a fort out of our cutlery!"

"Rika threatened that if I continued to make jokes, she'd hit me with frying pans!"

"Sounds like she fulfilled her threats…" Janyuu noted slyly.

"Hey!" Terriermon complained, as the lift reached the correct floor and the doors slid open, Henry's father with a smug look on his face, and Terriermon with an annoyed look. Henry ignored his partner's complaint, and looked out at the Hypnos lobby, expecting it to be busy, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw only a few assistants, and Shibumi.

"Punctual as ever…" Janyuu joked, as Shibumi chuckled.

"The others will be here soon enough…" he replied.

"What's the situation doc?" Terriermon asked.

"Yamaki will explain better…" Shibumi replied.

"Really? He's always come across to me as being a bad-tempered uncharismatic…" Terriermon began. Yamaki coughed, the doors of the main control room sliding open. "Hey Boss!" Terriermon cheered enthusiastically.

"Come in…" Yamaki greeted, a tinge of anger in his voice.

"Got away with that one…" Terriermon whispered to Henry as they walked into the control room.

"Suzie can still do the Princess Treatment on request…" Henry replied. Terriermon shivered, and nervously replied.

"Touché!"

"Getting straight to business…" Yamaki told them. "It appears there is a problem with the Digital World…"

"You've never been, have you?" Terriermon questioned teasingly. "There is ALWAYS a problem with the Digital World!"

Yamaki ignored the dog-bunny. "Riley, bring up the data…" he ordered. Riley nodded, and the monitoring screen was replaced with the map, surrounded by the dynamic data and the graph.

"It's this particular piece of data that is worrying…" Shibumi noted, pointing to the graph. Henry, his partner and his father looked up to the data, analysing it and trying to figure out exactly what it was showing.

"We run a scan about every month…" Tally noted. "And the latest one showed these alarming results…"

"The number of Digimon in the Digital World is decreasing?!" Henry asked in surprise.

"Not only that, the creation rate had dropped to zero…" Janyuu added. Shibumi nodded.

"The red ooze isn't back, is it?" Terriermon asked.

"No, we've checked for that…" Yamaki replied.

"Good, I'm not being sent home by Henry's dad again…" Terriermon replied callously. Janyuu frowned in sadness.

"Terriermon!" Henry told his partner, true anger in his voice. Terriermon promptly shut up.

"So why is this happening?" Janyuu asked, changing the subject.

"We have no idea, that's why we sent for you…" Tally replied.

"Hmm…amount of landscape stays the same, deletion rate fits the pattern, size of the world stays constant, what could possibly cause such a drop?" Janyuu pondered.

"It's puzzling isn't it?" Shibumi replied. "There seem to be no other differences except for the creation rate itself…"

Henry stared at the data; the numbers running through his head as he looked for anything at all that was remotely different. The doors behind him slid open; Yamaki frowned to once again see their newest recruit from downstairs in the experiment room.

"What is it?" he growled, his patience tested by the man's reappearance. "Have you found a link to Digimon?!" he asked, more impatiently, the man literally quaking in his boots at the sight of the imposing boss.

He spoke nervously and quietly. "Another building collapsed sir…"

"Until you find a link, stay out of my sight!" Yamaki told him.

"Yes sir…" the man replied, once again leaping at his chance to escape, practically running through the sliding doors.

"Wow, you've got some serious anger management problems…" Terriermon noted.

Henry decided to return to the subject at hand. "I'm thinking that we should contact Ryder…" he suggested.

"Why exactly?" Janyuu asked.

"He seemed to be very deductive when it comes to things like this…" Henry replied, hiding his actual reasons, namely that Ryder was an Angel, and that he would be likely to know what to do in this situation.

"Okay. Tally, email him…" Yamaki ordered, Tally nodding and beginning to type.

'_I hope we can figure this one out…'_ Henry thought.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

(1) – The result of far too much Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy…

An interesting chapter, without much actual progression in plot, but with lots of development of ideas and characters. Please review.

Next time…

Will Rika tell Mari? Will Ryder figure out the mystery? Will Terriermon ever stop making jokes, or will he be subjected to further 'treatment'? Will Barry escape the pond, or will he be doomed to be stuck in Shinjuku as a Goldfish forever? Will this next time ever end, or will I be asking questions forever?

Find out in 'Her Reluctance', Chapter Three of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	3. Her Reluctance

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

_Her Reluctance_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Stevens & Flynn Residence**

**10:21 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Rika stood outside the white door of the apartment that had been inhabited by Ryder Stevens and Mari Flynn for exactly five weeks now. The number 29 hung on the door, and the hallway leading up to it was quiet, carpeted with dull cream-grey carpets, designed with lifetime in mind rather than style. The apartment block itself was not far from Henry's, although it was newer; Tokyo's upwards climb visible throughout the city, although this particular apartment was located on the second floor at one end of the building.

Rika breathed a deep breath and tapped her knuckles against the door. She was normally with Takato when she went to this place, and this time she was not only dealing with more major topics, but also wasn't with him. In fact, he seemed to always be there to back her up, and vice versa, each complimenting the other in what they did. It almost seemed they were destined to be together, except for the fact that Chaos and Harmony hated each other and would avoid being together at all costs. She was unsure about the exact details of being incarnated, but it seemed that they had some control over the process regardless.

Rika faked a smile when she met the smiling face of Mari Flynn. "Morning Rika…" she greeted, stepping aside for Rika to enter the apartment.

"Hey…" Rika replied bleakly and quietly. Mari glanced at her as she entered, holding the door open for a short while longer and smiling as Renamon entered the apartment as well.

"I see that the perception filter I normally use doesn't have as much effect on you?" Renamon asked. Mari nodded, oddly glancing around the apartment, something which unconsciously caught Renamon's attention, before it was diverted again when Mari began to talk to Rika, now seated on the sofa.

"Ryder's out purchasing a new mouse…" Mari explained. Rika nodded understandably. "Donmon broke another one; it's particularly insane when they are both trying to one-up each other on Battlefield 2…"

"How do you cope?" Rika asked, faking a smile.

"I beat them both at their own game…" Mari replied, smiling.

Rika chuckled; it wasn't particularly surprising to hear. Mari sat next to her on the sofa, as Renamon continued to silently stand up, glancing once again around the mid-sized apartment with very light blue walls and pale blue carpets. In the main room, it featured a living room area on one end near the large pane-glass window with two sofas around a small glass coffee table with an LCD television by the window, and on the other end, a small kitchen alongside the front door. In the middle of the room, there were two doors opening onto Mari and Ryder's bedrooms, and a door to the bathroom in-between, opposite which was a desk with a laptop on it, a swivel chair, and a broken mouse.

"So, what brings you here?" Mari asked, placing a glass of water on the table in front of Rika, alongside her own already there.

"Nothing much, just wanted to talk…" the redhead replied, Mari noting her glumness.

"Takato busy?"

"Yeah, Kristy insisted that he go down the park, taking Guilmon with him…" Rika replied.

Mari nodded. "Heard the news?" she asked.

Rika's eyes opened wider, looking to Mari with curiosity dominating her features. Unless the goldfish had been blabbing, something she didn't expect to happen in a million years, there was no way that Mari could possibly know already, was there?

Mari noticed Rika's odd expression and, ignoring it for the time being, picked up the TV remote, switching the device on, a news channel coming up straight away.

"_**Authorities are saying that there is absolutely no threat to people in the city, and that these were isolated incidents" **_a reporter spoke, standing in front of a pile of rubble surrounded by fire engines, police cars and ambulances, the later leaving regularly as more arrived.

"_**But surely the fact that both the incidents occurred on the same day merely half an hour apart is no coincidence?"**_

"_**It seems that way, but authorities are quick to point out that the pair of buildings have two buildings between them, and are not next to each other, ruling out anything that would affect them directly at the same time."**_

"What is going on?" Rika asked, now bewildered by the news report they had switched on in the middle of.

Mari muted the television. "Well, these two buildings in Tokyo collapsed randomly only 30 minutes from each other. The web has gone alive with news, some suggest that it's a government conspiracy; others suggest that the buildings were both built shoddily by the same contractor. Some even suggest that it's a Digimon attack, but the fact that you are here and not fighting out there suggests otherwise…" Mari explained. Rika nodded.

"I haven't got any signals on my D-Vice…odd though…" Rika replied. "Did anyone die?"

Mari nodded glumly. "Fifty-two people is the current count, with more injured…" she replied. Rika frowned sadly.

"Awful…" she replied. Mari nodded in agreement.

"I heard that you had a battle this morning, even going to hospital…are you okay?"

Rika nodded unconfidently. "Yeah, I'm fine…just some bruises…"

Mari raised an eyebrow. _'Bruises hardly seem worth going to hospital for, particularly not for Rika…'_ Rika noticed the slight expression, and continued talking.

"Takato got paranoid and all…it was a BigMamemon…"

"Aha, like in the world tour in the TV show…" Mari noted, eliciting a curious glance from Rika. "I decided to watch the TV show to find out exactly what all you guys are talking about half the time, shame that I can't watch a TV show to find out your adventures though…" she added, prompting a chuckle from Rika.

"Could you imagine that? Being a character in a TV show…" Rika replied.

"Well, in Ryder's universe, you are…" Mari noted. Rika nodded, remembering.

"Still seems unbelievable though…" Rika replied.

"We were talking about it the other day, in particular the fanbase that set up regarding all the shows."

"Really?"

"Yeah, some parts of it are like Digital Watch, but based on a TV show. Anyway, he was talking in particular about the community concerned with writing stories of their own, normally extensions to the usual continuity."

"I see…anything particularly interesting?"

"Well, he mentioned a fanfic, that's what they called them, where Takato turned out to be this being known as Chaos, that ended up bringing about his death and an ongoing adventure involving Gods, Archangels, Archdemons, a prophecy called Gospel and a bunch of other interesting plot points in an epic saga that Ryder never managed to finish reading before he ended up here."

"That is hauntingly similar to real life…" Rika noted.

"There was another one where Guilmon was killed in battle…" Mari began, before noting Renamon's surprised glance, and continuing. "…and Takato went into depression, which climaxed in him rescanning his drawings for Guilmon. Suffice to say, the events that followed were not exactly reassuring for him, although there was a point where you, either accidentally or intentionally, kissed him…" Rika looked at her curiously with the mention of the kiss.

"Is it all about our lives, or do the Digidestined get a look-see?"

"Well, in a bit of a crossover, there was one where Davis wrote the Tamer's storyline, that's your lives up to the end of the D-Reaper, as a novel to distract him from his crush on Kari…"

"Interesting…" Rika replied, lifting her drink to her mouth and beginning to sip it.

"And then of course, there's the one where you two ended up stuck in a cave and you got pregnant…"

Rika spat out her water back into the glass, as Renamon was similarly surprised. Mari chuckled at the reaction (not knowing the underlying irony about it), as Rika turned to her. "What?" she asked.

"Well, writers can write anything they want, in their fanfics, they have complete control over the characters…Ryder noted that some of them were extremely good writers as well…"

"So they could write absolutely anything, like Takato ending up with Jeri, or me, god forbid, with Mr Perfect?" Rika asked, this discussion now increasing her curiosity.

"Yeah, but Ryder said he never, or at most rarely, read them. He was a…what did he call it…Rukato fan…"

"Huh, Rukato?"

"Yeah, it's a portmanteau of Ruki and Takato, the original Japanese names that you had, the dub changing things to Rika and Takato."

"Ruki? Sounds like a misspelling…" Rika replied, smiling weakly. Mari chuckled.

"Yeah, most couplings were given names, Takari was Takeru and Hikari, TK and Kari in other words, Taiora was Tai and Sora…"

"This is very disturbing…" Rika commented.

"I said that to Ryder. He told me that in that case, to avoid being disturbed further, he'd suggest that you guys avoid a particular art website, or alternatively some websites far worse than that, if you ever ended up in his universe. Particularly Renamon, he then added for some reason."

Rika's eyes widened, as she sat back in her seat, taking a sip of her water again, Renamon having a similarly surprised reaction. "Seems like you guys are getting along well here…" she noted, deviating from the fanbase subject that was at best a distraction from her intended topic of conversation, and at worst was downright disturbing.

"Yeah, we get along surprisingly well actually. I expected us to have arguments over something or other, but apart from the whole unfriendly competition at video games thing, we haven't had any problems…"

"Lucky you, my sister is a pain, and I'm forced to live with her…" Rika replied, smiling.

"There really are no similarities between the Angels, are there?" Mari replied. "Compare Ryder with Rey with Kristy, they're all different."

"Yeah, anyone could be an Angel…"

Mari frowned, and sat back in her seat, sighing. "Not without a Digimon it seems…" she replied glumly, drinking her drink. Rika frowning in response, this was a deep-seated bitterness about Mari that she had only begun to see recently. Bitterness was probably the wrong word, but it was clear that Mari disliked taking a backseat in proceedings. Her personality wasn't exactly passive, and the hit to her confidence of having to stand back and watch them almost be killed without being able to help in any way must have been substantial. Rika looked around the apartment for something to break up the silence, before realising that this was the point where she would have to tell her big news.

However, reluctance tore her back from asking. A nagging doubt that this route was the correct one, a thought that there was someone else far better to talk to. But there was no-one, no-one she was close enough to to talk to about the situation except Takato himself or her parents, in particular her grandmother, and she really wasn't up to that yet.

Fate spared her from having to tell, as Mari noticed something on the television, and looked curiously at the screen, an expression that turned to one somewhat of horror.

"Another building?" she asked, shock in her voice as she restored the sound on the television. Rika sat forward for a clearer look; to see the anchorman now reading from a piece of paper he had been given.

"_**We've had reports that another building has collapsed near the scene of the previous two collapses. Reports are currently limited, but it appears that it is the eighth building away from the first one. It also collapsed thirty minutes after the previous one. Quite what this means is still a mystery, but the death toll has increased, with five reported deaths so far. A link has yet to be established between the buildings, although this does decrease the chance that it is a one-off incident."**_

The display switched to that of a reporter speaking to a person on the street. _**"Now, Mr Hosoda, you witnessed the collapse, what exactly happened?"**_

"_**It was like a bomb went off in the building, and then it cracked and splintered, before breaking down to the ground. I heard screaming, a small dust cloud was raised, it was awful."**_

"What on earth is going on?" Mari asked, shocked at the events. Rika shrugged unsurely, Mari seemed to now be distracted by this piece of news, and she had begun to have doubts that she was the right one to talk to. Doubtless, someone would've pondered her absence back at her home by now, given the fact she hadn't left a note or anything, and that she had said that she would be resting for at least a few hours if not the whole day. Rika frowned, deciding that it was now about time that she made her leave.

"I'm going to go now, okay?" Rika told her. Mari nodded and smiled cheerfully.

"Feel free to come here any time, although I can't guarantee that you won't walk into the middle of a competition between the three of us…" she replied. Rika nodded and smiled, standing up and walking to the door.

"Bye…" she said, lacking any real emotion in her voice as she left, Renamon bowing in respect and following her partner. Mari sighed after the door closed, and switched off the television, before turning to the wall.

"So, where were we?" she asked, as DarkRenamon dropped her perception filter.

DarkRenamon closed her eyes and spoke calmly. "We were talking about Rey…" she replied.

Mari nodded, gesturing for DarkRenamon to once again take her seat, on the sofa opposite the red-brown haired girl. "I think that she is significant, but I'm not sure why…"

"She comes and goes from our lives randomly" the vixen replied.

"I find it difficult to believe that for her, it is like mere seconds. I can understand her worries about aging too much, imagine going away one day as a child and coming back as a teenager or an adult…it'd be hard to explain at birthdays…" Mari said chuckling. DarkRenamon nodded, smiling.

"Can you order 'about 17' candles?" she joked. Mari laughed.

"Speaking of that, I think if we knew her age, we would better know who she is…"

"You said that she said that she would tell you more in a few months, once you knew some other things that you would learn in the meantime…"

"Yeah, but what could possibly change in a few months?"

"A lot of things, by the looks of you and Ryder…" DarkRenamon replied, Mari nodding in agreement.

"So who do you think she is?" Mari asked.

"I have a theory that I've been piecing together based on what you and the others have told me…but I'm not sure whether I should tell you or not…"

"Go ahead; I'd rather hear your idea than not suffer from what it is…"

DarkRenamon closed her eyes, taking in a breath. "I believe that Rey is your daughter Mari…"

Mari's eyes widened. "What?"

"It is mainly based on how she acts around you and Ryder, and how particularly friendly you said she was to you two, in particular Ryder…"

"But her surname is Matsuki?"

"That is where my idea falls apart you see…the thing is, by the dates she told you about the future, and various other hints, I think that she's from about 2027, which would mean that, from what you told me about human aging, she would be born only a few months from now."

"So you think that the surname is a red herring?"

DarkRenamon nodded. "We were quick to assume that she was related to Takato Matsuki because of the surname."

"But not just that, she actually mentioned that she was related in a far too mind-blowing way to tell us now."

"So what do you suggest?" DarkRenamon inquired.

"Well, it's reasonable to assume that Rika and Takato will get married at some point in the future, giving Rika the name Rika Matsuki, if she takes on his surname, that is…"

"So you're suggesting that Rey is their daughter?" DarkRenamon asked.

Mari nodded. "It would explain a few things…"

"It has one fatal flaw though…if she is sixteen, which she appears to be, and she is from 2027, then she would've been born in 2011. By that theory, Rika is either pregnant now, which we can assume she isn't, or she is going to become pregnant in the next few months, equally unlikely considering their age."

Mari nodded, sighing and falling back on the sofa. "When we find out who she is, I think it'll change our lives forever…"

DarkRenamon nodded. "Certainly…" she replied, before looking over to the door as the sound of keys being placed in the lock began to resound.

"Thanks for the chat…" Mari told her.

"Any time…" DarkRenamon replied, vanishing as Ryder entered the apartment.

"Hey Honey…" Mari greeted.

"I got the new mouse…" Ryder replied, holding up a case and glaring at his bat-like partner.

"Hey, I said sorry!" MiniDonmon replied. Mari sighed.

"Do I have to beat you all at Battlefield again?" she asked, mocking exasperation. "It's just too easy…"

Ryder chuckled. "So, anything happen while I was away?" he asked, plugging the new mouse into the laptop and booting it up.

"Yeah, two things. There have been three buildings collapse randomly in Tokyo…"

"Yeah, I heard…" Ryder replied sadly. "What was the other thing?" he asked.

"Rika came over for a chat; we ended up talking about the whole fanfic and your world business…"

Ryder chuckled. "How did she react when you mentioned the story where they were trapped in a cave in and she got pregnant?"

"She spat out her water into her glass, understandable really…"

"Yeah, must be strange to hear about things written in another world about yourself" Ryder replied, checking his email. "Hmm, email from Hypnos…" he said, opening it up as Mari and MiniDonmon peered over his shoulder in curiosity.

**Ryder,**

**We have discovered a problem with the Digital World, and need your help to figure out what's causing it.**

**Henry (at Hypnos)**

**P.S. Terriermon says to pick up a CD from my apartment, not sure exactly why. It's apparently on the shelf alongside my main computer in my room, and is apparently marked 'Program Delta'.**

Ryder looked at the email with curiosity, before standing up and glancing to Mari. "Are you coming with?" he asked, as MiniDonmon flew onto his shoulder.

Mari smiled, and shook her head. "Nah, I'm going to go shopping in the Ginza district…I'm taking my cell phone if you need to contact me…"

"Same…" Ryder replied, pulling her into a kiss and an embrace, before heading to the door.

"Laters!" MiniDonmon said from his shoulder, as Ryder waved quickly and left, Mari's expression changing to a frown afterwards.

"Everything's always exciting for them…" she said sadly, picking up her bag.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A slower paced opening few chapters than previous books, but don't let it be deceiving. This book definitely has action in it, and it forms an important part of the storyline that has yet to begin. Please review; I enjoy reading every one of them, and replying if I can think of any way to confuse you further.

In response to General Blackout's review, I'd like to note that not everything is as it seems here, a fact to be explored in Chapter 5 when we truly learn the nature of free will, and the reasons why some are not part of it.

Next time…

Why does Terriermon need the CD? Who actually is Rey? Will Mari always be on the sidelines? What on earth is going on with the buildings?

Find out in 'Their Secrets', Chapter Four of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	4. Their Secrets

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

_Their Secrets_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku Park**

**11:02 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Rika welcomed the sounds of nature (and hundreds of children, a constant reminder of the one she would have soon enough) as she walked into the park along the well-maintained path, small fences lining the path on either side, fading away as the gradient of the grass and tree covered areas either side climbed as the path climbed to match, heading towards an all too familiar destination, one where she had seemed to have spent at least one hour a week in since she was thirteen.

From battles to bread, every time they went here, something always happened. It was what made the hideout so interesting, be it Guilmon choking on bread from his bizarre allergy to an unknown type of bread, or one of the hundreds of types of Digimon out there, and on occasion one they had never seen before. Takato got his D-Arc here, Rika first met Takato here (although he had seen her beforehand in a dream), Renamon first fought Guilmon here, Jeri met Leomon here, Kazu and Guardromon first biomerged here, the D-Reaper had completely avoided it, and practically every morning since they became a couple Rika and Takato had been here. It was the focal point of their lives, a meeting spot where you could expect to have a friendly ear from whoever turned up.

Rika sighed; a friendly ear was what she needed now, although doubtless it wouldn't be enough. She glanced to her rear, as Renamon calmly followed her, determined but with a faint unease about what Rika intended to do in her eyes, and in her thoughts.

"_Rika, if you don't mind me asking, what do you intend to do in a minute's time when you meet Takato?"_ she asked telepathically.

Rika paused, turning to her partner as time seemed to stand still. _"I'm not sure…I really don't feel up to telling him yet…I have to tell him eventually but…I just want to see him at the moment. They'll be worried about me otherwise, and I don't feel like sitting around in my room all day, despite what I said…"_

"_I understand. Do you wish for me to do anything?"_

Rika smiled to her partner, anyone watching by now unaware of their ability understandably confused by now, which was thankfully no-one at all. She shook her head. _"No, nothing in particular…go see Guilmon, if you can stop Kristy insisting on him playing tag that is…"_

Renamon smiled, and nodded, as Rika turned, and continued to walk, Renamon following gracefully after.

The peak of the pathway followed, and the familiar steps came into view, leading up to the concrete utilitarian hideout above, trees obscuring it from easy viewing by the general public, a useful property that made it ideal ages ago for keeping Guilmon out of harms way, which, given his child-like nature, was all too likely, particularly considering Impmon's influence, a particular misadventure that had led to them discovering that Guilmon had more of an independent mind than they believed at the time, albeit the independence being avoiding things that were boring as opposed to those things that were morally wrong or treated as misdemeanours.

Unlike the rest of the park's penance for wildlife, this area seemed to be habitually avoided by anything other than Digital or human life, possibly due to the fact there was someone here for most of the day, or that Guilmon when he lived here would've scared them away, particularly in the mornings when he would show his large incisors at the peak of a yawn, a sight which Renamon found oddly attractive, since it was an odd mix of his childish yawning and his beast-like features.

The hideout building, originally presumably some form of store cupboard or protection for a sprinkler system control to avoid anyone tampering with it for a laugh, had been oddly abandoned for years, somewhat forgotten about, whether accidentally or intentionally, by those that run the park. Rika had a nagging hunch that Hypnos had a part to play in causing that, their influence being far reaching despite the small scope of their particular remit, a clear example of government handing out power as much as possible to agencies controlling events or phenomena that they failed to understand at higher levels.

Takato sat on the steps, which had started to crumble slightly recently thanks to the lack of maintenance, although this was balanced out mainly by the fact that, compared to other steps in the expansive park, they were hardly used at all. Guilmon, now apparently 'it', attempted to catch up with the cheery red-brown haired girl, the white and gold ferret, an ecstatic Calumon and an apparently disinterested (although clearly not so) Impmon. Guilmon leapt to try and grab Calumon, as the catalyst leapt straight up into the air with the aid of his extendable ears, leading to Guilmon crashing to the ground nearby, and moaning in annoyance, as Kristy giggled.

"Geez toots, you really aren't good at this anymore…" Impmon complained. "Hey, you've got a pineapple head to play with you guys now, if you can coax her into joining in, so I'm off" Impmon said, leaping away after Rika glared at him, although it was more of a customary glare than one of anger, Rika not particularly feeling like herself on this day. Takato looked up after hearing the nickname that Impmon held for the redhead, based on the shape of her ponytail on the top of her head.

Renamon calmly walked over to Guilmon, still lying front-down on the floor, and bent down, whispering in his ear in a seductive manner. "Fake an injury…" she told him, him grinning in response. Tag was fun, but playing it twice in the same day mere hours apart, after playing it several days in a row, with Kristy of all people, was not fun, particularly since Guilmon had matured over time. Guilmon looked up to Renamon kneeling over him, and smiled, nodding to as much of the extent he could with his chin flat on the floor.

"Guilmon, are you okay?" Kristy asked. Guilmon glanced to Renamon, smiling cheekily as Renamon smiled in response. Guilmon stood up, faking a limp as he did so, pressing his hands and his right leg down more than his left leg.

"I think I hurt my leg…" Guilmon replied, faking a small bout of pain.

"Oh…can you play any more?" Kristy asked, slightly sadly about the end of Guilmon's time playing in the game.

"He should rest it…" Renamon replied. "Or it could get worse…" she warned.

"Okay…Calumon's 'it' now!" Kristy cheered, her annoyance quickly fading as Calumon leapt straight into the continuing game with him as 'it', and Kudamon ending up as 'it' within mere seconds.

"Hey Rika…" Takato greeted, smiling at the redhead.

"Hey Takato…" Rika replied, voice still lacking her usual confidence.

"Still not feeling okay?" Takato asked, as Rika sat next to him on the step.

Rika shook her head, as Takato put his arm around her, and smiled, pulling her into a kiss.

"Don't worry, whatever it is I'm sure you'll get over it and cheer up soon enough…" Takato told her. Rika nodded, noting the irony, since what Takato said could never possibly happen. "So, when did you get up?" he asked.

"Not that long after you left…I went to see Mari…"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, she told me that Ryder told her about the fanbase back in his world. Apparently, you and I as a couple is nicknamed Rukato…"

"What?"

"Yeah, it's disturbing to hear about another world that effectively watches our world and then creates its own stories based on it."

"Yeah, but that's not to say our world didn't create stories about the Digidestined's world…"

"Yeah, but those stories didn't include me…"

Takato chuckled. "So what exactly happens in these stories?"

"Well, some of them were surprisingly similar to real life, while others seem to take a new take on real life, or extend real life. Apparently they are very good writers."

"Interesting…any examples?"

"In one of them, Guilmon…" she began, before holding back, glancing over to Renamon and Guilmon, sitting nearby, while Kristy and the two other digimon continued to play tag.

"What happens?" Takato asked in curiosity.

"Well…he dies…and in desperation you rescan the drawing…" Rika replied.

"What?!" Takato asked in surprise.

"She also mentioned that I…either accidentally or intentionally…kissed you…"

"Oddly, that doesn't sound major considering what we've done…"

"Yeah, but this was before we became a couple, after the end of the whole D-Reaper thing…most of them sound like they're set then…"

Takato nodded, still amazed by what Rika was saying. "What else?"

Rika suddenly realised that she had a chance to judge Takato's reaction without telling him the truth. "There was one where…well…you and I had sex and I got pregnant…"

Takato looked at Rika in surprise, Rika frankly unsurprised at his reaction.

"Of course, it's only a story in another universe…" Rika replied. "It's not real…" she added quickly.

"I know that…" Takato replied. "It's just, imagine if that were to actually happen…what the hell would we do?" he joked.

Rika laughed weakly. "I have no idea…"

"Takatomon, I'm hungry!" Guilmon pleaded, leaping at his Tamer all of a sudden, pushing him over and sitting on top of him as Rika dodged to one side and Renamon chuckled.

Rika smiled bravely at the sight of Takato, happily being crushed by his partner.

"Get off me!" Takato asked.

"Sorry…" the dino replied.

"I understand what Kudamon means by calling you an object…" Takato joked.

Guilmon giggled. "Yeah…"

'_How can I possibly wreck this?'_ Rika thought, looking at the happy sight of the pair laughing, Takato patting Guilmon on the head. _'What the hell gives me that right, to wreck his life?!'_ Rika yelled to herself. _'He's one of the kindest people in the world, he never tries to do anything wrong and he's comforted me when I'm at my lowest end…how can I wreck that? I know that it was both of us together, but it was my idea…'_

A tear dripped down Rika's angered face, a tear quickly wiped away before Takato turned around.

"Didn't you hurt your leg?" Kristy asked, looking over to the Digimon and Tamer.

"Um…yeah…" Guilmon replied.

"But it healed!" Takato added, far too enthusiastically and quickly, the nature of a quickly drawn-up plan, to be taken seriously by anyone.

"Okay…" Kristy replied naively, apparently the definition of anyone not stretching to her. "Are you going to play now Guilmon?" she asked, her childish nature still showing through, a nature that Rika knew would be eroded over time by maturity and the inevitable events they would face as Tamers.

"Sorry, I've got to go help out at the bakery…" Takato told her, after glancing at the time. Rika frowned, her chance was gone. She doubted she would ever have taken it anyway.

'_I'm completely lost what to do…I don't want to ruin his life…I love him, I don't want to see him hurt like that…'_ she thought sadly.

She felt her lips touched, and she returned the kiss. "Bye Rika…" Takato told her, smiling.

Rika nodded unsurely, her thoughts having made her wander away from reality for a second there. "Bye..." she replied faintly.

"Hope you feel better soon…" Takato told her, smiling bravely.

"Bye Renamon!" Guilmon added.

Renamon smiled, looking to the red dino. "Bye…" she replied, as Takato and Guilmon began to walk away along the familiar path, Rika watching sadly.

'_I don't want to see him hurt…'_ she thought, unconsciously placing her hand on her belly. _'But it looks like I don't have a choice…'_ she mentally added, frowning and looking to the eroded step two below the one she sat on.

"Sis, are you okay?" Kristy asked, her cheerfulness fading for a moment. Rika looked up glumly.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" she replied, faking a cheerful edge to what she said. Kristy frowned.

"You don't seem fine…what's wrong?"

"Nothing…just feeling down…"

"Do you want to play tag?"

"Huh? No, why would I?"

"Always makes me feel cheerful…"

"You're always cheerful…"

"Yeah, so it makes me feel even more cheerful…"

Rika frowned; looking back to the step, as Kristy frowned, sitting next to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I told you, it's nothing…" Rika replied, not taking her eyes off the step.

"It's got to be something, to get you so sad about it…"

Rika looked to her side, faking a smile. "It's nothing…" she replied, adding a cheery edge to her voice.

"That smile looks fake…" Kristy replied. "I'm not as innocuous as you think you know…"

"Huh? It's nothing; it's just what being a teenager is like…sometimes you just feel sad for no real reason…"

"It's got to be at least based on something…are you and Takato still in love?"

Rika smiled. "Of course, why wouldn't we be?"

"What else would make you sad then? Another fight with mom?"

"No…"

"Yeah, that'd make you angry instead…" Kristy replied. "Did someone read your diary?"

"How do you know about my diary?" Rika questioned, narrowing her eyes at her sister.

"I didn't read it…" Kristy replied, putting her palms out to her front defensively. "I just know about it, that's all…"

"No-one can read my diary, I password protect every entry, not even Takato is allowed to read it…"

"I'm sure your password is really obvious, something like Takato…or Gogglehead…"

"None of those, trust me, you'd never guess it…" _'After all, you don't even know who Goddramon is…'_

"So what do you write in it that even Takato can't see? Do you write mean things?"

"No…not mostly…I just write personal things, personal feelings that I wouldn't tell anyone…"

Kristy frowned, looking at her shoes sadly. "They're about me, aren't they?"

"No, they're not…"

"Yes they are, you hate me…" Kristy replied, eyes tearful and voice weepy.

"Don't cry…" Rika told her, putting her arm round her sister. "I don't hate you, despite the fact that I didn't even know you existed for the first sixteen years of my life, I love you as a sister…it's good to have someone to complain about mum with who doesn't try to be all kind and considerate like Takato…"

"Really?" Kristy asked, tinges of hope in her voice.

"Yeah, I mean, you still drive me crazy, and I suppose I get my revenge in my own way. But I love you regardless, in the same way that I love Mum, or Grandma, or even Takato, unconditional, regardless of anything that happens."

"So why do you hide your diary from us?"

Rika pulled Kristy in for a closer hug with her arm. "Everyone has their secrets Kristy…I mean, look at Takato, he's full of them, in trying to be kind he ends up bottling so much up that would probably change your whole perception of him if you were to know all of them from tiny little things like where he hides his ultra-rare cards so that his mother doesn't find them and ask why he's spent his whole allowance on them, to huge things, like…" Rika paused, unconsciously touching her stomach, an act unnoticed by all but Renamon. "…things I really can't tell you. And others have secrets too…" Rika began, smiling as she reminisced what she had picked up throughout her life as a Tamer, through various sources. "I mean, don't ask how I know these things, but I know that Kazu sleeps with a nightlight on, Elecmon walked in on Jeri while she was changing, an event that they decided purposefully never to mention again, and that Takato dreamt of me before he met me."

"What? Really?" Kristy asked.

"Never, ever mention it, or even hint at it, again or I will kill you…"

Kristy frowned sadly, the earlier topic of conversation returning. Rika smiled, trying to reassure her sister when she realised what she had said.

"Okay, I won't kill you…but every single breakfast you have from now until the end of time will have water instead of milk…"

Kristy gulped, Rika smiling at her reaction.

"Anyway, the point is, everyone has their innermost secrets that they'd never tell, ones far worse than what I told you. Things you wouldn't even understand at your age. And then there are secrets that are a complete mystery to us, I mean look at Rey; her entire life is a mystery. Who is she, and what is this future she's trying to prevent? And Ryder as well, I can tell he's hiding something incredibly huge, even from Mari."

"I know that you're hiding something big too…"

"Inevitably, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. Anyway, look, as soon as I feel ready to tell you, I will, but until then, I'm afraid that you just have to bear with me, okay?"

"Okay Rika…" Kristy replied, standing up cheerfully and walking over to her partner and Calumon, smiling.

"Let's play tag!" she cheered, Calumon nodding enthusiastically, and Kudamon reluctantly.

"Don't worry; she'll grow out of this…" Renamon said to the ferret quietly, smirking.

"I hope…" he replied. "I'm getting sick of being squashed…"

"You better not hurt yourself again…" Rika told Kristy playfully.

"What are you, my mother?!" the younger girl replied, sticking her tongue out, before smiling and winking playfully.

Rika pulled an angry face in response, before watching as they resumed their game. She frowned, noting the poignancy of what Kristy had said.

'_Not yours Kristy…but I will be a mother…'_ she thought.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Another chapter of talking, expect the start of this tale to be mainly talking until we move into action in a big way. There are still the two other main themes of this story yet to be revealed, which will all play a huge part as we speed towards the emotional conclusion I have planned. 

I think this chapter came out well, a mix of Rika and Takato together at its core, along with Rika's reluctance mixed in with that, with the relationship between Rika and her sister on the layer above, and some amusing secrets to top the whole cake…I mean plot…off.

Next time…

What is Rey's secret? What is Ryder's? Will Kristy ever grow out of her childish nature as Renamon said? How will Rika manage to tell Takato, and what will his response be?

Find out in 'His Realisation', Chapter Five of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	5. His Realisation

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

_His Realisation_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**11:03 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

The silence of many minds thinking had descended on the chamber, the rest of the Monster Makers having arrived by now. The deathly silence was interrupted only by Terriermon's jokes about it. The waiting was unbearable, despite all that Henry had asked, Terriermon refused to tell what the disc contained, and Ryder seemed to be taking a while. Then again, the fact that they were eager for him to arrive was making time drag somewhat, a fact proven when Henry glanced to the time on his D-Arc.

"Henry, that's the fourth time this minute, give it a rest!" Terriermon complained. "Unless you're trying to alter time with your mind…although…on Heroes, that guy did…you are Japanese…"

"Half Chinese…" Henry corrected.

"Same difference, potato potato!" Terriermon replied.

"Henry, tell your partner to be quiet or else…" Yamaki snapped, the agitation getting to him as he clicked his lighter.

Henry turned his eyes upwards, glaring at his partner.

"Hey, I'm only making conversation; everyone else has gone quiet…geez, computer geeks really are unsociable…" he complained.

"This couldn't possibly get any worse…" Yamaki muttered to himself, and then frowned as the man once again arrived through the sliding doors. "For the last time, give us a link to Digimon or go away!" he complained, the man literally shivering with fright.

"But sir…another building collapsed, and they're all in a line…" he replied, his voice quaky and scared.

"I said, give me a link to Digimon or…" Yamaki began to reply.

"In a line?" Terriermon asked.

"Yeah…" the man replied, noting the unexpected source, a small cream dog-bunny, a creature whose existence he still found incredible. He was also thankful, since it gave him a chance to look away from Yamaki's glare without seeming insolent.

"Isn't that a bit too perfect?" Henry asked.

The man nodded. "That's what we thought, and then we noticed that they were every half hour…"

"So?" Yamaki asked angrily. "What does this mean?"

"Um…we don't know yet sir…"

"Then find out! Send a team to the next building that fits the pattern!" Yamaki scolded.

"Yes sir!" the man replied, quickly making his leave.

"Well, you certainly aren't a people person type of boss…" Ryder replied, stepping aside at his place at the sliding doors as the man rushed past.

"What took you so long?" Terriermon asked.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"Your stupid disk!" MiniDonmon complained in response. "Henry has got to have the most untidy bedroom ever…"

"MiniDonmon, compared to Takato's or mine back home even, his is positively sparking…" Ryder told his partner.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't got the liberty of time to make jokes. Ryder, we need you to look at the data…" Janyuu told the boy, who nodded, stepping forward to get a better look at the information displayed across the panoramic screen.

"So give me a quick summary…" Ryder asked.

"Basically…" Riley replied. "The number of Digimon being created in the Digital World has dropped to zero, and the number of Digimon in total is dropping dramatically…"

"What?!" Ryder asked, looking to Riley, and then back to the data.

"At this rate, there'll be just one Digimon left eventually that has absorbed the data of all the others…" Henry noted.

"What's causing the drop?" Ryder asked.

"That's what we need you to figure out…" Yamaki told him. "And you better figure it out soon, or that world will destroy itself…"

"Since when did you care?" Terriermon asked. "Last time I checked, you weren't exactly our biggest fan!"

"Terriermon, don't look gift horses in the mouth…" Henry told his partner. "He's helping, that's all we have to care about."

Ryder looked at the data, his mind wandering about. _'What would possibly cause such a drop?'_ he thought. _'Okay, let's go through this logically, first of all, how are Digimon made?'_

Ryder's eyes widened as the truth dawned on him, his realisation bringing a shocking result.

"Oh crap…" he cursed.

"What's wrong?" MiniDonmon asked.

"I figured it out…"

"So, what is it?" Terriermon asked. Ryder paused, checking his idea was soundproof before continuing. "Come on already!" Terriermon added, annoyed at his pause.

"Well, five weeks ago, we destroyed Yggdrasil…" Ryder began. Henry's eyes widened as he began to get the idea.

"You're not suggesting that…" Henry began.

Ryder nodded, and Henry stopped talking, allowing Ryder to continue. "Yggdrasil created all life in the Digital World; any decrease in Digimon was met by an increase in creation rates, any increase in Digimon met by a fall, creating a steady amount of Digimon in the world."

"Good method it seems…" Janyuu noted.

"Yeah, shame he was a complete arrogant b…" Terriermon began.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"What, it's true! He tried to kill us Henry, don't you remember?! Geez, I thought you were the one with all the brains around here…"

"Terriermon is actually right; the presence of a being like Yggdrasil would probably always lead to the same ending, the one we've seen. The very position is inevitably going to create insecurity about powers, primarily since he wasn't a God but everyone believed he was, and to maintain that particular belief he had to eliminate all other Gods that could usurp him, and take as much control as he could, such as that over the Royal Knights, who in turn created fear about Yggdrasil, increasing his status" Ryder explained.

Henry nodded. "But still the problem remains, how can we get the Digital World back to normal?"

"No idea…" Ryder replied.

"Ryder, pass me the disc…" Terriermon instructed. Ryder nodded and span it through the air, somehow perfectly landing between Terriermon's ears, which he raised to catch.

"Wow, that was pretty impressive Ryder…" Henry noted, echoing the surprise of the others in the room.

"Thanks, I've been working on my probability manipulation…" Ryder replied. "So what's on the disc that's so important?"

"The solution…I had a hunch what the problem was, so I asked you to get it…" Terriermon said to Ryder.

"What exactly is it?" MiniDonmon asked.

"I need to check its working first…" Terriermon replied. "Hey Yam! Any chance we can go use a computer somewhere?" he asked, getting a glare in return from Yamaki at the name.

"I can show you to one…" Shibumi said. "But what exactly is it?"

"Top secret…" Terriermon replied, winking. Henry sighed, as Shibumi nodded, and the blue-haired Tamer followed the Monster Maker out of the room, through the sliding doors once again, which let a brief blast of sunlight into the chamber.

"So what do we do now?" MiniDonmon asked.

Yamaki was about to reply, but was interrupted by the telephone on his desk. He walked over to it, and picked it up.

"Mitsuo Yamaki of Hypnos speaking…"

"_**Sir, we have now got a serious problem…"**_

Yamaki frowned, although he was thankful that it wasn't the youngest of the team downstairs once again, and instead one of the more senior members, it still annoyed him because of how irritating their youngest member of the team was.

Yamaki tapped a button, and the call began to be played out over the speaker, allowing all in the room to hear.

"What is it?"

"_**The difference between the buildings seemed to increase by 1 each time, so it went 1**__**st**__** building, 4**__**th**__** building, and then 8**__**th**__** building. Based on this, we assumed that the next building would be the 13**__**th**__**, and that it would collapse 30 minutes after the previous one."**_

"So what happened then?"

"_**The team arrived at the 13**__**th**__** building, but it was too late, and the wrong building too. The thing is, only 25 minutes separated the latest two, the rate appears to be increasing."**_

"So what building collapsed then?"

"_**The 9**__**th**__**…"**_

"Huh? That doesn't fit a pattern…1, 4, 8, 9…" Ryder noted.

"_**Any ideas sir?"**_

"We'll work on it; send teams to the next few buildings in the line…" Yamaki ordered.

"_**Okay…"**_

The phone hung up, and Yamaki turned to the others.

"Looks like this is our problem now…" he said gruffly.

"The regularity suggests it is something to do with Digimon…" Janyuu noted.

"A very sick and twisted Digimon…" Rai added.

"Hmm…" Ryder pondered. "Riley, can you plot out all the points so far onto a map of Tokyo…" Ryder asked. Riley nodded, and began to type away, the map soon appearing.

"Can you add a line running through each of the buildings and extend it to create a map of where could be attacked?" Yamaki asked, in response to which a long line appeared.

"Guys, not to worry you or anything, but that line passes through this building…" MiniDonmon noted in alarm.

"Whoever is playing this sick and twisted game has us as their final target…" Ryder said.

"So what do we do?" MiniDonmon asked.

"We have to figure out the pattern so we can confront whatever is doing this…" Ryder replied.

"But what kind of a pattern is 1, 4, 8 and then 9?" Yamaki asked.

"Hmm…" Ryder pondered.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**11:32 JST**

Rika lay on the sloped grass; eyes closed as the air calmly blew through her hair, occasionally making her need to sweep away the stray hairs sweeping across her face. She heard Kristy stomping around nearby, the laughter of her and Calumon resounding through the air as Kudamon moved gently along the ground and Calumon floated with his ears through the clear summer day. White clouds floated through the blue sky above as Rika watched, the world seeming so peaceful, despite what she knew about the chaos erupting elsewhere in Tokyo. Her inner turmoil also clashed with the calm, as she noticed she had once again placed her hand on her belly, a move that only Renamon sitting silently on the branch of a tree nearby knew the significance of.

"Rika…" said the sister of the redhead, attracting the girl's attention.

"Yeah…" Rika replied, looking round to see her sister.

"I'm going home now, are you coming or…"

Rika shook her head, sighing. "I'm going to stay here for a while…okay?" she asked. Kristy nodded, waving goodbye as she turned to her partner, who leapt on her shoulder.

"Aww…everyone's leaving…" Calumon complained. "I'm going to go find food!" he cheered, his sadness immediately vanishing as he raced away.

Rika sighed; she was alone with her thoughts once again. Naturally, Renamon was still there, but she sat silently on a tree, eyes closed, a pose that would look like sleeping to anyone else, as she silently contemplated the situation.

'_I wish I could help her, but I am not sure what I could possibly do. I do not wish to stand back and simply watch, but it looks like I do not have a choice…'_ the yellow fox thought sadly.

"Rika?" came a voice from nearby, and Rika glanced to the side to see her fellow Tamer, Jeri, approaching along the path at walking pace, a tired Elecmon following quietly behind.

"Hey Jeri…" Rika replied, her voice lacking any enthusiasm.

"Are you okay?" the brunette asked, sitting down on the ground next to the redhead, who sat up in order to be better able to talk to her friend and fellow Tamer. Her partner closed his eyes for some shuteye.

"Yeah…"

Jeri frowned; Rika seemed to be acting odd, not particularly moody, but just…depressed was probably the word that best described the way she looked. Her expression was neither happy not particularly sad, simply blank, without a look of contemplation, rather a look of resignment.

"What's wrong?" Jeri asked, concern dominating her voice.

"Nothing…" Rika replied.

"It doesn't look like nothing, are you sure that you're really okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Jeri frowned, glancing into her friend's eyes. This wasn't normal Rika, although she could be moody at some times occasionally, right now this was far more than that. She glanced behind, to Renamon standing on the tree, nodding to her. Renamon seemed quiet, simply nodding subtly, a move that wouldn't register on most people's minds. Renamon was normally subtle, but this was far more than that.

"I heard about this morning…" Jeri noted. "Does it still hurt?" she asked.

Rika frowned, and lifted her shirt slightly, displaying some bruises running along the bottom of her torso, along the right hand side and part of her front and back adjacent, where her shirt had been lifted by the grazing across the ground before. "BigMamemon…he threw a bomb at me…Renamon pushed me to the ground, but I landed on my side…if she hadn't, the bomb would've hit me…"

"Wow, that looks like it hurts. What did the Doctor say?"

Rika frowned, recalling what she actually said, which was far more surprisingly than what Jeri would ever imagine she would say. "She said that it was nothing major…just that I needed to rest up…"

"So what are you doing here?"

"Resting…well, actually Takato and my sister were here earlier, but they each went home…"

"So why did you go to the hospital?"

"Rey told me to…"

"Really? Is she back?" Jeri asked, looking around eagerly.

Rika shook her head. "No…she told me it a few weeks ago…when Takato and I were stuck in the Digital World…"

Jeri nodded, understanding, but still having a question. "So why did she tell you that then? Seems a bit odd…"

"No idea…it was nothing in the end…nothing at all…"

"So why are you upset?"

"I just…am…it's that time of the…"

"No it isn't…" Jeri interrupted.

"Huh?" Rika asked.

"We can tell, it's when you go insane…Terriermon has cottoned onto the fact, and normally shuts up for a few days now…"

"Hmm, shame, I should leave him guessing, shut him up all the time…"

Jeri chuckled, glad to see elements of the old Rika within this new façade she seemed to have.

"So what is causing this then?" she asked.

Rika frowned. "Look…Jeri…you're my friend, but I just…can't tell you…"

"Why, what is so important that you can't tell me?"

"I really can't tell you…"

Jeri frowned. "Well…if you feel like talking, contact me, okay?" she asked. Rika smiled and nodded. "I'm going to Hypnos…I presume you've heard?"

Rika nodded, frowning. "Yeah, two buildings collapsed…"

"Four…it's increasing…"

"What?"

"Yeah, I heard about the latest one on my way here…Henry contacted me and told me to come to Hypnos…it must be about the collapsing buildings…."

Rika nodded, the crisis attracting her intrigue. "Hypnos is involved?" she asked.

"Yeah, they suspect that something Digital is involved by the sounds of it…do you want to come?" Jeri asked.

"No…" Rika replied, surprising the brunette, who looked at her inquisitively, looking for some explanation for her friend's odd behaviour.

"Who are you and what did you do with Rika?" Elecmon asked, yawning as he got up, and looked to the redhead. Jeri chuckled.

"I just…don't feel like it…okay?" Rika replied, frowning once more.

"I've never seen you back down from a potential fight before, something must be up…" Jeri commented.

"I said that it's nothing!" Rika snapped. Jeri looked on in surprise at Rika's rash reaction.

"Sorry…" she apologised.

"No, I'm sorry…" Rika replied, realising that she had let her temper get out of control. _'And so the mood swings begin…'_ she thought, frowning. "I'm just not in the best of moods…" she replied.

Jeri smiled to reassure her friend. Whatever Rika was going through, it was clearly nothing that she would be able to find out about. She simply hoped that the girl would be back to her normal, Terriermon-beating self soon enough. Until then, she had to see Henry; she had to find out about these buildings, before more people got hurt by whatever was causing it. She hated seeing people get hurt, it was part of her nature, and led to her disgust at the D-Reaper and how it used her emotions to hurt people even more. Some wounds had healed, such as Leomon, but that event in her life would always remain with her, regardless of what she did. And she had faced it, she had passed it, and she had decided to help everyone in order to make up for the pain she had caused to so many. She wished that she could help Rika, make her feel better, heal her wounds. But she knew she couldn't, she couldn't heal everyone, but she would try to heal as many as she could, to the best of her abilities.

"Don't worry…" Jeri replied, smiling with her eyes closed to reassure her friend. "Bye…" she replied, standing up and walking away, Elecmon promptly following.

"Bye…" Rika replied, watching her friend leave, heading down the same path that Kristy had left via, and Takato before her.

Everyone had tried to get through to her, everyone had tried to help. And she rejected them.

Rika had never hated herself as much as she did at that moment. Knowing that Jeri was out of earshot, she screamed with frustration to herself, no sound escaping her mouth as she put her hands on the sides of her head and pushed her head down into her lap.

"Frustrated?" a voice asked.

"Rey…" Rika replied, her voice angry and full of malice. She turned to one side; to face the girl bending down to talk to her who had caused almost as much frustration as she felt right now. She looked up and into the surprised girl's eyes, Rey unexpecting Rika's reaction. "Why don't you just piss off?!" Rika told her in anger. "What the hell do you get out of tormenting me like this?"

"Rika…" Rey began.

"Who the hell are you Rey? You don't exist, what the hell does that mean? I'm sick to the back teeth of all this crap; tell me who the hell you are…Rey Matsuki, who are you?!" Rika replied, standing up with fists clenched out of anger.

Rey frowned, looking to the ground, before returning a glance equally as angry as the other redhead's trademark one. "Why should I tell you who I am when you can't even tell Takato that you're pregnant yourself?!"

Rika's fists loosened, as she quaked. "I'm…scared…"

"Of what?"

"Of losing Takato…"

"What?"

"All through my life, I've lost people and Digimon who I care about due to my own fault…I lost Renamon once because I wasn't strong enough to stop Hypnos…I stood there when Kazemon was stripped to her very core as she screamed in pain and joined the mass of data floating above Domain because I wasn't strong enough to stop their deaths in time…I let my anger control me, and I almost lost Renamon as well…even my birth, my very birth, caused me to lose my dad…I haven't seen him since I was a little girl, I can't even remember his voice for God's sake!" Rika said, scrunching up her eyes in pain as she clenched her fists again. Tears welled in her eyes, and Rey looked in the girl's eyes in sadness, seeing her pain and misery.

Rey pulled the girl into an embrace, Rika's head going over her shoulder as she put her arms around her, and she began to cry, trying to hold it back as much as she could. She felt Rika quaking in sadness.

"I don't…I don't want to lose him too…" she said emotionally.

Rey frowned sadly, pulling Rika closer in her arms. Seeing her of all people crying was strange enough, as a teenager increasing that oddity far more, and that only heightened the sadness of the scene.

"You have to tell him…" Rey told her.

"But I don't want to hurt him…I don't want to lose him…"

"You'll hurt him more if you don't tell him…"

Rey felt Rika nod, and then she pulled away, violet meeting azure as each stared into the others eyes.

"Rey…can I ask you something?" Rika asked emotionally.

Rey frowned slightly, anticipating that Rika would once again ask for her identity, and that she would have to deny her that information once again, an act which hurt her every time she had to do it, not least when Rika was this emotional, her logic and sense gone. She didn't understand the timestream exactly, but she didn't want to anticipate what would happen if her interference were to cause Rika to do, god forbid, something that she wouldn't have done otherwise. Rey nodded in response.

"Am I a good mother?" Rika asked inquisitively.

Rey looked on in surprise, blindsided by Rika's question that she had been unable to anticipate. "What?"

"Am I a good mother when I'm older? My son or daughter, are they okay?"

Rey nodded. "You're the best mother in the world Rika…" she replied, smiling to reassure the redhead.

Rika was slightly reassured by what the redhead had said, but she felt that, even if Rey was from the future, she wouldn't know exactly how much of a good mother she would be, since only her actual son or daughter would be in the position to know that. "Thanks…" she replied.

Rey looked into Rika's eyes, and made a decision that she never expected to make. She reached into her pocket, grabbing around for what she needed. Rika looked on in curiosity as Rey pulled out a piece of paper, and then a pen, which she pressed against her D-Vice and began to write on. "Look…if you ever need me…this is my cell phone number…" she told the girl, handing the piece of paper to the surprised girl with the white and pale blue shirt in front of her.

"Wow, this is a long number…" Rika noted.

"Yeah…" Rey replied. "It'll let you contact me, even when I'm travelling in time…in which case, I'll be pulled out of the warp into your time in order to answer it…"

"Huh? How does that work?" Rika asked curiously. "Surely when you're travelling in time, you're ahead of us in terms of events, so the call couldn't possibly be answered by you in the future to a time now?"

"It's…complicated…" Rey began, pulling out another piece of paper and mounting it on her D-Vice. She began to draw some lines, a creating small band running across the paper in the centre, and larger bands either side to top and bottom. She wrote **Future** in the top part, **Present** in the middle, and **Past** in the bottom. She drew arrows above the **Present **band, pointing up into the **Future **band.

"Wow, you're a really good artist…" Rika noted.

"Thanks…I had a good teacher…" Rey replied, smiling, as she began to explain the image. "How it works is that where we are now is the Present, which slowly progresses along at normal speed, taking events from the future band and leaving events behind it in the past. But the present band never changes, it always moves at a constant rate. I may be from the future, but this is still the present technically, despite feeling like the past to me. Therefore, if I am…" Rey drew a cross in the Future area. "…here, then if you call me from the present, you can still contact me, since my reference point on my time device is the present day."

Rika looked at the girl, nodding. "I think I understand…what happens when this present band reaches the future though, surely when you do come back then, this won't be the present band?"

"Time isn't that simple…it's not completely linear, you can jump probability tracks like that…" she replied, clicking her fingers. "Just like Ryder does with his retconning abilities. As the Tenth Angel of Destiny, I can feel the flow of destiny, the flow of events towards what will happen if the present probability is continued…which it will inevitably unless altered by someone outside of the destiny flow, such as myself, or Ryder."

"Huh? Ryder is outside destiny?"

"Yes, he was born outside this universe, he has no destiny in it, and hence he truly has free will. He can change events in the future and past with no personal effects; he has no grandfather in this universe to kill. Sure, he could kill Kazuya's grandfather, but destiny in his universe would still insist on throwing him into this universe, that's how this all happened. Despite the results, his destiny in his universe ended with him being thrown out of it and into this one. That's what makes him such an important figure amongst the Angels, everyone has free will naturally, but he has free will far beyond that, beyond probability, time, anything. Everyone else is affected by time's effects; the flow of time will take the straightest course possible that it can, altering events, perceptions, even thoughts and the ability to put clues together, in order to ensure that. Ryder is free of this; he is the only one who is resistant to this flow, an ability that will serve him well in the future."

"Doesn't that make him a huge threat?"

"Both that, and an asset. I have the same ability, being outside of my own time means I am also free of the effects, although to less of an extent than him, since if I were to provoke my mother into suicide, or into abortion before I was born, I would be eliminated, creating a paradox, which would waste my single chance I have to make a paradox that will not destroy itself. I have to stop an event in the future Rika, and then activate the device built into this time device that will prevent the paradox from taking effect. And that event is…something I can't tell you…"

"But why do you want to prevent it in the first place?"

Rey frowned, wind ruffling through her red hair. "There's a war…in my time, there's a huge war raging, people are being killed and there is seemingly nothing we can do…it was Ryder's idea for me to travel back in time, to try and fix things. He built this time device, and then he altered it to install the paradox prevention device, but it is only usable once. You see, everything that happened, all this war, all this torment, all this bloodshed, was caused by an event back in your time, an event that caused something that you didn't even notice until it was far too late."

Rika frowned; she had learnt some things, but not enough. "Please…tell me…who are you?"

Rey frowned. "Look Rika, I promise…I'll tell you…as soon as the time is right…"

"But what does that mean?"

"Rika…you have to tell the others about the baby…"

"Huh?"

"Rika, please…you have to do it…"

"But…I'm scared…"

"Once you tell him, you'll have him by your side, and then, you'll face things together. And then I'll tell you the truth…if I can get my time device homed in on the right point, that is." Rey told her, gesturing to the device on her arm. "I have to go now…" Rey told the other redhead.

"Thanks…for the talk…" Rika replied, smiling bravely.

"No problem…" Rey replied, smiling and nodding, as she pulled Rika into a quick kiss that lasted less than a second, her pulling away quickly after when she realised what she was doing, but would surprise Rika until she learnt the truth.

Rika's eyes widened afterwards, looking on in shock as Rey.

"Oh…crap…" Rey cursed, turning red in embarrassment as she tried not to look at Rika in the eyes. "Sorry, force of habit…"

"What?!" Rika asked. "What the hell kind of habit would make you kiss me randomly?!"

"Got to go…" Rey replied, quickly tapping the buttons on her time device.

"Wait!" Rika called, putting her hand out, and touching thin air as a flash of light forced her to use the other hand to cover her eyes. She frowned, putting both hands down as she saw that Rey had gone. "You always leave Rey…I want to find out who you are…I just hope…that I'll find out soon…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

An emotional chat between Rika and Rey that will either add evidence to your suspicions, or throw you completely for a loop, particularly the ending. 

On top of that, a talk between Rika and Jeri that shows Rika's holding back of her secret, and also some more information on Hypnos' problems. Please review.

Next time…

What the hell is wrong with Rey? Who is she anyway? What is on Terriermon's disc? And what is the pattern?

Find out in 'His Pattern', Chapter Six of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	6. His Pattern

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

_His Pattern_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Streets of Tokyo**

**11:32 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

DarkRenamon gracefully landed on top of a building, legs bending to soak up the force with which she hit it. The sky was still blue, the clouds were white, but the city was not normal. The air was different; an air of fear hung in the air, possibly misguided, but it was created by fears nonetheless. The streets, while still full as normal, were full of agitated workers, those heading out on early lunch breaks so as to work later.

DarkRenamon strode to the edge of the roof, looking down on those below. Without her low-level perception filter in place, this would look very odd to those below, a black bipedal Kitsune standing on the edge of a roof, some possibly coming to the assumption that she was preparing to jump to her death.

DarkRenamon frowned, that was the last thing she wanted to do now. Ever since Yggdrasil had been destroyed, she had felt like her life lacked any meaning any more, like she was stuck in stasis between things. The only highlights of her day were her regular talks with Mari, outside of which she would wander the streets looking for some form of event. Had there been more bioemergences, she would be an effective dispeller, or at least aid in protecting the general populace from a rampaging Digimon.

And yet, there was nothing. Nothing of interest had happened, she had failed to reach both the bioemergence that morning and the bioemergence two weeks prior, and she was aching for a battle. But at the same time, she didn't want to fight. She had seen a world beyond fighting, beyond servitude, but it was one she had no idea of how to reach. And so she continued searching, looking for something to give her life meaning like the other Digimon in this world had. She was unable to Digivolve, leaving the others to handle anything above a champion, which seemed to be pretty much every bioemergence these days.

She looked to the road below, cars flying by, and noted in particular the number of news vans. Something major was going on, but how could she possibly help?

A deep resounding rumble shook the ground and the air, and DarkRenamon leapt to the other side of the road, in pursuit of its source. She passed along rooftops, along roads, even cars when she had to cross particularly wide roads, surprising their drivers as their roof was dented somewhat. She landed gracefully on the ground, and looked up to the destruction. A cloud of fog had descended, but her senses told her this was not a Digital Field, nor was it natural fog. It was a cloud of brown dust, sweeping out of the remains of a tower block, screams resounding from the remains as DarkRenamon looked on in horror. Ambulances began to arrive, followed by police and fire engines.

A shadow quickly passed, and DarkRenamon quickly panned her head, but saw nothing when she reached the point where it should have reached by then. She frowned, either she had been imagining things, or whoever they were dealing with was not only highly destructive, but also fast, and presumably calculating as well by the timing of the collapses.

She looked back to the rubble, her senses itching her to help, but she knew that she couldn't, that her involvement would only bring more trouble and potentially more death by the distraction of the emergency workers.

The cloud of dust had by now descended, covering the ground and buildings nearby in a thin layer of dust, making several humans nearby choke in response.

DarkRenamon closed her eyes and turned, walking away from the scene. She knew it would not be the last that day, nor the last scene of its type she would see in her life. This dormant period in events was not going to last, and she had to help out in the events that followed however she could.

But how could she help? She didn't even have a partner to help her. Sure, Mari was nice, but it was clear they were not partners. After all, all the others had had Digivices appear upon meeting their partners, or at least a short while afterwards, but it had been weeks and DarkRenamon had been to see Mari once a day at least, hoping that at one point the air would glow and spit out a D-Vice. She knew that Mari wished for the same, but nothing ever happened, the air always stayed stale and unchanging. It pained her to see Mari like this, she had told the Kitsune of an urging for battle she had, an urging to help Ryder and the others in their fights, but was completely unable to.

'_I may be unable to be her partner, but I shall protect her whenever I can…'_ DarkRenamon decided.

* * *

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**11:37 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

"Another building has collapsed…"

The sound of Riley talking had pulled everyone in the room from their thinking, as they looked up to the workstation.

"Where?" Yamaki asked.

"Near the others…" she replied.

"Can you plot it on the line?" Ryder asked. Riley nodded, and the click of more buttons prompted the addition of a new dot to the map displayed on the panoramic screen.

"Which number building is that?" Janyuu asked.

"It's the 16th building in the line…" Tally replied.

"1, 4, 8, 9, 16…it's like there's a pattern there, but at the same time, there just isn't…" Ryder commented.

"There are several square numbers in there…" MiniDonmon noted. "1, 4, 9 and 16"

"Yes, good point but, what about 8?" Shibumi asked.

"Hmm…" Ryder pondered. "Maybe there is another pattern that contains those numbers…Yamaki; does the government have any way of checking patterns?"

Yamaki shook his head. "No, why would we?" he asked.

Ryder frowned. "But…there must be some way…"

"I'll check the internet…" Riley replied, the sound of clicking keys once again echoing in the chamber.

"The question still remains though, why are the buildings all following a number pattern at all?" Janyuu asked.

"This isn't random destruction at all…" Shibumi noted. "It's controlled for some reason"

"To provoke fear…" Yamaki noted.

"Huh?" Ryder asked.

"The concept that someone could destroy buildings to a pattern provokes fear in those who figure out the pattern. The person making this intended for us to figure out the pattern, in order to make us try to stop them."

"But we'd try to stop them anyway?" MiniDonmon asked.

"Yes, but this system creates an illusion of power, or possibly actually is a display of power."

"Makes sense looking at this…" Riley said from her terminal. Yamaki and the others looked up to her.

"Why?" Yamaki asked.

"It is a sequence. 1, 4, 8, 9, 16, they're all the product of a square and a cube. One times one, one times four, one times eight, one times nine, one times sixteen."

"One is a cube and a square, and the other numbers are all cubes and squares…" Tally noted.

"It increases as well, 1, 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, 36, 49, 64, 72, 81, 100, 108, 121, 125, 128, 144, 169, 196, 200, 216, 225, 243, 256, 288, 289, 324, 343, 361, 392, 400, 432, 441, 484, 500, 512, 529, 576, 625, 648, 675, 676, 729, 784, 800, 841, 864, 900, 961, 968, 972, 1000…" she read, her audience listening with intent to the figures.

"But, by the sounds of that, as soon as we get into higher numbers, the rate at which it moves through buildings and over distances is going to increase exponentially" Janyuu noted.

"I found it on this internet database" Riley replied. "The On-line Encyclopaedia of Integer Sequences…"

"Anything else to note?" Ryder asked.

"They're known as Powerful Numbers."

Ryder's eyes widened. "So someone is playing a game with us based on power? On intimidation?"

Yamaki nodded. "That's how it seems…" he replied.

"Then we can figure out what buildings are going to collapse next, and prevent it, right?" MiniDonmon asked.

Ryder nodded. "Riley, plot all the buildings in the trajectory that fit the pattern, can you?" he asked. Riley nodded.

"Doing so…" she replied. "But it'll take a while; the system needs to calculate which buildings belong to the pattern, and which are outside the line."

* * *

**11:37 JST**

"So what are you doing again?" Henry asked, looking to his partner, the pair currently sat in front of a computer terminal. Henry had put the disc in for his partner, and since then, pausing only to tell his Tamer to be quiet, Terriermon had been working away silently.

"I said wait until I finish Henry!" Terriermon snapped.

"When did you learn to program?"

"Number one, I'm a Digimon, data is in my nature. Number two, I get bored when you leave me home from school, and your programming books plague my interest."

"I thought you just played video games…"

"I did, using my programming skills to give myself an unfair advantage. But then I saw the potential of my skills, and I began working on programs. This is my master work, built recently on the inkling that without Yggdrasil, something would go wrong with the Digital World."

"But what does it do?"

"Wait till I'm finished!"

"Henry?" Jeri asked, seeing the pair after exiting the lift.

"Hey Jeri…" Henry greeted, smiling and looking up.

"What are you doing?" she asked, Henry noticing Elecmon on her shoulder.

"Shut the hell up both of you!" Terriermon yelled, surprising Jeri and Elecmon, as well as Henry to some extent. "I'm trying to think!"

Jeri sat on a chair near Henry, and spoke to him quietly.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"He's working on a program to solve the problem with the Digital World…" Henry replied.

"What is the problem?" Elecmon asked.

"Yggdrasil's destruction means that no new Digimon are being made, the number of Digimon is dropping…" Henry replied.

"Yeah, and we've got to do something quick so GO AWAY!" Terriermon told her.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

Jeri smiled, nodding. "I'll go to see what they're doing in the control room…" she replied. "Keep working, it sounds like it's an important task…"

Terriermon nodded. "It is…"

Jeri quickly kissed Henry, before hurrying away to the control room. Entering it, she found that everyone was almost in complete silence, either standing up or sitting on seats.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Allow me to explain…" Janyuu began.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**11:47 JST**

Rika had once again moved from her position, now in the hideout, sitting against the wall in the relative darkness. Renamon stood nearby, staring with saddened eyes at her emotional Tamer. The day, almost mockingly, continued to be perfect, the background by no means reflecting Rika's internal feelings and turmoil.

Rika looked at the phone number again, mooting a plan. Rey had said that if she called the number, she would be pulled back to Rika's time. This would give Rika a perfect chance to get her answer from Rey, to finally find out who she was once and for all.

Something stopped her. A feeling that it wasn't right, a feeling that she should wait. She looked to Renamon.

"Are you going to?" the vixen asked her. Rika frowned, looking down at the floor again.

She shook her head. "I don't know…"

"If she has a reason not to tell you, then it is unlikely that irritating her by disrupting her movements in time would change that reason."

Rika nodded. "Yeah, and it would probably just make me lose her too. I keep losing everyone Renamon…I really don't want to lose Takato, regardless of what everyone says…"

Renamon nodded. "I understand…what do you expect him to do once he finds out?"

"That's the thing; this is Takato we're talking about here. He could do anything at all; he seems completely random, probably by the nature of Chaos. He can be irrational as well. He could faint. He could deny. He could run for the hills and never come back. That's what I'd probably end up doing if I were him…" Rika said, frowning as she glanced down at the concrete floor.

"Is that Takato though?" Renamon asked. Rika looked up to her partner, cocking her head. "Is it really like Takato to run away?"

"Definitely, he's one of the most cowardly people I've ever met…but…at the same time; he can also be brave, mature beyond his years…which Takato will response to the news though?"

Renamon frowned. "That is something you will find out in time Rika…"

"But do I have to? We could blow a hole in the floor of this place, find the portal and run away to the Digital World, never coming back. Takato would live his life, find someone new, never know the mistake he made because of me. Or we could run to somewhere else on Earth, anywhere at all. What is stopping me?" she questioned, standing up.

Renamon frowned. "Exactly, what _is_ stopping you?"

Rika frowned, looking back to the ground again. "I love him…"

Renamon smiled bravely, having brought Rika to a realisation.

"I don't ever want to leave him, or lose him, or anything…"

"And he thinks the same way about you…" Renamon replied. "So what are you going to do?"

"I want to tell him…I've just…I've just got to come to terms with it myself…" Rika replied.

"Hey, Rika!" called an all-too-familiar male voice, as Rika turned to look out of the hideout to the path nearby down the steps, to see the familiar faces of Tai Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi, standing below, holding hands. Agumon stood next to his partner, and Biyomon flew next to hers.

Tai was wearing his clothes from university, a white shirt, grey trousers and black and white tie stuffed into his black blazer pocket. He would almost look professional; mature even, if not for the fact that his hairstyle was still untamed and a blue headband ran around his head, substituting for a pair of goggles which would look completely out of place in university.

Equally, next to him Sora wore a white shirt, short blue skirt, and her brown-orange hair cut short at shoulder length, turning up at the ends in its usual fashion. They had been at University for almost a year now, studying international politics and fashion respectively. It had surprised Rika to learn that Tai was studying International Politics, both because it was so unlike him, and because it fitted the epilogue to the television series, which had been contradicted by so many other things, not least the fact that they had arrived in the Tamers' world, or rather vice versa, or rather the worlds had combined overall. Oddly, no-one seemed to notice the fact that there was a TV series in this world and characters from it running around everywhere, but Rika put it down to the perception filter created by herself (or at least that was her interpretation) following the cataclysm.

Back on the subject of international politics, in Tai's own words:

"_**I want to figure out why the hell the UN was so interested in the Digimon, and to be able to stop them making any rash decisions that'll hurt the Digital World and the Digimon."**_

"Hey…" Rika replied, still lacking enthusiasm. Even with the words of Takato, Kristy, Rey, Jeri and Renamon in her mind, she still couldn't cheer up enough to talk without exerting a sense of depression on the person or Digimon she was talking to, a depression easily noticed by Sora and Tai.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, as they walked up to the redhead and her yellow fox-like partner, who still stood in the hideout, stepping outside only once Sora and Tai were two metres from them.

"Nothing at all…" Rika replied, braving a smile as her voice falsely turned positive.

"Okay…" Sora replied, unsure about whether she was being told the truth.

"Aren't you going to Hypnos?" Tai asked.

"Huh?"

"Another building collapsed…" Agumon noted.

"Yeah, and the first two were divided by 30 minutes, and the second two by 25 minutes…" Biyomon added.

"At 10:15, 10:45, 11:10 and 11:35…" Tai relayed, getting looks from Sora for his accuracy. "Hey, my memory isn't that bad after all…"

"Thank Brain Training…" Sora noted, chuckling. Tai nodded.

"Dr Kawashima…I'm apparently younger than you in brain age…" he replied.

"Yeah, well I don't believe it…" Sora replied, patting him on the back playfully.

"So that makes the next one due at 11:55?" Renamon asked, returning the subject of conversation back to its original question.

"That's in four minutes…" Rika noted, the events becoming clearer to her. Sora nodded.

"We've got to try and stop them before a lot more people get killed and hurt…" she added.

"Are you coming then?" Tai asked.

Rika looked to them, they eagerly awaiting her predictable response. Rika Nonaka was not one to miss a battle, not one to avoid getting a chance to help her side. She was a God (as far as they knew), and also had a temper that was raged by battle. Whatever was causing this would be likely to be a skilled foe if they were able to pull off such a well timed and coordinated series of attacks, and both her and her warrior-like partner would be eager to fight, despite the fact that it was an incredibly dangerous pursuit. Rika and Renamon didn't want to fight, but would if necessary, which made Rika's response far more surprising.

"No…" Rika replied monotonously.

"Huh?" Sora replied, the reply surprising her.

"I'm not coming…" Rika replied.

"Oh, so you're going to go to where the buildings collapsed to get ahead of us then?" Tai asked, thinking he was beginning to understand Rika's motivation for her unusual response.

"No…" Rika replied, Tai and Sora cocking their heads in response.

"Oh…okay…" Tai replied. "Come on Sora, we've got to get there quickly…"

"Bye…" Rika told the pair.

"See you later…" Sora replied. "When you're feeling better…"

Rika smiled, nodding and laughing slightly at the amusing response, a joke that failed to occur to the couple in front of her, who just shrugged it off and walked away.

It would be a long time until she truly felt better.

She glanced to her cell phone, pulling it out of her pocket along with a small business card.

It was time to call her.

* * *

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**11:52 JST**

"The task is complete; all the buildings are now marked out…" Riley said, interrupting the thoughts of Ryder, sitting on a chair that he had put in the room, the wait making his legs ache.

"About time…" MiniDonmon replied bluntly.

"Display it on the screen…" Yamaki ordered, and the map was displayed on the screen. Sure enough, Hypnos was a target on the line, highlighted in blue, as were all buildings that were targets.

"We have a target list, what do we do?" Tally asked.

"Tell me the location of the next building, and the time till the attack…"

"The Mitsukoshi Department store in Ginza, in exactly 44 seconds" she replied, a counter being displayed.

Ryder's mouth went agape as he put two and two together. "No…no…no…" he said, getting more angry and fearful as he pulled out his cellphone and desperately began dialling.

"What are you doing?" MiniDonmon asked, echoing the thoughts of all in the room.

"Shut up…" Ryder replied, quickly and angrily, putting the phone to his ear. "It's dialling…" he said.

The silence passed, everyone looking eagerly at Ryder.

"Come on, pick up…" he pleaded.

MiniDonmon gaped in surprise, suddenly realising what Ryder was doing.

Ryder breathed a sigh of relief when the other end picked up. "Mari, where are you?" he asked, interrupting Mari's greeting before she could talk.

"_**I'm at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Ginza, why?"**_

"Get out of there now!" Ryder panicked, almost shouting.

"_**Why?"**_

The line went dead after a periodic sound of crumbling, and Ryder pulled the phone away in shock, as MiniDonmon stared on at him, it paining the bat to see what was happening, MiniDonmon able to tell by his Tamer's expression what had just happened.

Mari was dead.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so the drama continues, as we begin Ryder's subplot. Not much else to say without ruining what is going to happen, so please review.

Next time…

What is Terriermon's program? Will Rika ever tell anyone? Will she ever help the others? How will DarkRenamon react to Mari's death? And how will Ryder react?

Find out in 'His Despair', Chapter Seven of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	7. His Despair

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

_His Despair_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**11:55 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Ryder, frustrated, redialled the cellphone number. MiniDonmon looked at his partner's pained expressions in fear.

"No, no, she can't be…" he complained. Jeri looked on, concerned.

"Ryder…" she tried to get his attention.

"Quiet…" he replied, putting the phone to his ear, a tense silence descending on the chamber.

"Ryder…" MiniDonmon began, trying to get his partner's attention so as to comfort him.

"Come on…pick up!" Ryder said in desperation.

Ryder suddenly breathed a sigh of relief when the other end picked up.

"_**Uggh…"**_

"Mari!" Ryder said, relief dominating his voice. "You're okay!"

"_**I'm sorry…"**_

"What?"

"_**He's here…"**_

"Who is?"

Ryder began to hear emotion in Mari's voice, and panic. She sounded hurt, and in pain.

"_**I survived but…"**_

"What?"

"_**He's going to kill me…"**_

"Who is?!"

_**I guess this is it…I love you…" **_she told him, her voice breaking into tears.

"Wait!"

"_**Goodbye Ryder…"**_

"Mari!" Ryder yelled, as the phone was hung up, a long dial tone echoing like a heart rate machine. He had let her come back to Tokyo with him, her death was his fault.

Ryder screamed in frustration, the phone cracking in his hand as he crushed it with his anger. He turned to his partner, who leapt off his shoulder, as Ryder tapped his D-Vice, MiniDonmon glowing.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**MiniDonmon Digivolve to…Donmon!**

"What are you…" Jeri began to ask.

Ryder, ignoring Jeri's question, ran through the sliding doors, getting through them literally just as the gap became wide enough. Donmon followed him, and the resounding smash that followed surprised all in the room as the glass shattered, Ryder and Donmon leaping through it. The light of digivolution enveloped both of them as they began to fall.

**BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION**

**Donmon Biomerge Digivolve to…BlazeDonnermon!**

Jeri and Elecmon walked to the smashed window pane, followed by Henry and Terriermon who had seen what was going on and were surprised, interrupting their work.

Mouths went agape as BlazeDonnermon flew away, wings tapered back and flying at full speed straight towards his target. Terriermon was the only one to break the silence, looking at the edges of where the window was, small fragments of glass remaining.

"So who pays for that then?" the dog-bunny asked, Henry sighing in response.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**11:57 JST**

Rika, having dialled the number, sat back down against the wall at the back of the hideout, waiting for Doctor Imai to pick up. Renamon stood near the entrance, keeping watch for anyone who could hear, as Rika awaited the Doctor's voice. She knew that it would be unlikely to be instant, if Dr Imai was seeing a patient, that would be her priority, but Rika was prepared to wait.

Renamon's eyes narrowed as she saw an orange shape fly out of Hypnos and pass through the sky.

'_BlazeDonnermon?'_ she thought, curiosity almost provoking her to follow. She looked back to her Tamer. She would not follow, she was going to help Rika.

Rika smiled, as the phone was picked up. _**"Dr Imai speaking…"**_

"Hi…it's Rika…"

"_**Rika, how are you?"**_

"I'm fine…are you busy?"

"_**I have a few minutes to spare…"**_

"Good…"

"_**Have you managed to tell him yet?"**_

"No, I haven't…"

"_**Have you told anyone?"**_

Rika looked to her partner. "Yeah, I told my Digimon partner, Renamon…"

"_**Ah yes, I have seen her on the news…she is a yellow fox, correct?"**_

"Yeah…"

"_**Has she been able to help?"**_

"Well…no, not really, she doesn't know much about this sort of thing, but she's been able to help in her own way."

"_**Good…have you spoken to anyone since you left the surgery?"**_

"Yeah, I talked to him, my sister and some of my friends."

"_**Anything of note?"**_

"Not particularly, I haven't been able to tell them anything really, although they have noticed my unusual behaviour."

"_**Where exactly are you?"**_

"Shinjuku Park…" Rika replied. "I got bored of lying in bed…"

"_**I see…anything you want to talk about?"**_

"I was wondering…" Rika began, before pausing.

"_**Yes?"**_

"Well…"

"_**Go on Rika…"**_

"What the hell do I do?" Rika asked, breaking down from her so far mainly confident talk into the question that she had been asking herself for the past few hours.

Dr Imai sighed. _**"I'm afraid that I am really unsure how I can help Rika…I could tell him, but I do not think that would be the best course of action. In the end, my responsibility is for you…I am required to be as confidential as you need me to be…"**_

"Yeah…"

"_**You are aware, of course, that unfortunately your notability will mean that this pregnancy will not go unnoticed by the public."**_

"Huh?" Rika asked, suddenly realising a new side to this.

"_**It is something to be aware of at least."**_

Rika frowned, her voice taking on further sadness. "Yeah…" she replied sadly.

"_**Try to think about the positive side of this…you're going to have a child, you're going to bring a new life in the world. Think of the happiness…"**_

Rika smiled slightly. "Yeah…thanks Dr Imai…"

"_**Call me any time if you need to talk…"**_

"I will…" Rika replied. "Bye…"

"_**Bye…"**_

The phone was hung up, and Rika sighed, leaning against the wall.

'_Rey said I'm going to be a good mother…did she lie?'_ she thought.

* * *

**Mitsukoshi Department Store, Ginza**

**11:58 JST**

A ball of energy collided with a cracked pillar above, the explosion shaking the entire building as it began to fall further, the supports of what remains being destroyed one by one, the remaining areas of safety soon to be lost. Occasional screams ran through the building, the screams of those trapped alive, and the screams of those who escaped but turned to see they had lost a loved one.

She felt pain run along her legs, up her torso, along her arms, on her head, everywhere. Her head rested on a metal girder, and what she lay on felt rough and crumbing. Her form was sloped upwards, allowing her to see her attacker, who promptly took out a further pillar with a ball of energy from his hand, the crumbling building causing the screams to continue, and then stop. She looked on in horror, she felt like she would scream herself but she was truly beyond that as the attention of the person in front of her turned to the one remaining pillar, that above her head. Moving her head to better look at him, she saw another shadow next to him.

"Who…are…you…" she asked, each word painful.

He smiled, turning to her, bouncing a ball of red and white energy in his hand. "Remarkably persistent, aren't we?" he asked, his voice sounding far younger than she thought it would be, the shadows of the fallen building stopping her getting a closer look.

"Huh?"

"All the other screams have stopped, haven't you noticed?" he taunted, looking around. Mari began to get a better look at him. He was of teenage age, about seventeen years of age by her reckoning. He had short black hair, and he wore a black jacket with red trim on the edges, and a black shirt, along with black pants. He smirked, looking to the girl in front of him. "They are all dead. Why aren't you?" he taunted.

Mari stayed silent, she was speechless at what had happened and what was happening.

He threw the ball at a wall nearby, debris being thrown everywhere from the blast, ripping through the wall. "Talk!" he ordered, before a realisation dawned on him. "Oh…I get it, I know why you survived…" he chuckled. "Shame that it wasn't enough to kill you…allow my partner to do the honours…" he taunted, the second shadow nodding and advancing. Mari got a look at the form. It was short, with large dull yellow scale-like back armour running from its head all the way down its back to its tail, encrusted with red jewels, and a black furry body, with the same dull yellow again on its underbelly. It stood hunched over on two legs, with two arms and claws above, small yellow shield-like armbands wrapped around them. The armour ran up onto his head, running down either side, and a small tuft of red-brown hair came out of a gap in it. On its head was a small headdress of bronze, with a purple gem encrusted in the top. Overall, he looked like he was dressed as a traditional samurai, and seemed to hold no fear of the collapsing building, as he walked towards Mari, claws shining. He opened his mouth.

"BLADE ATTACK!" he yelled, a katana-like projectile glinting as it moved towards her. She tried to move, the pain preventing any attempts. The boy smiled, looking at her helpless, about to be killed.

'_Ryder…'_ Mari thought, giving up.

"BLACK SHARDS!" yelled a voice, as a blast of black diamonds intercepted the blade, slamming into the wall which exploded, quaking the final pillar into collapsing.

Mari looked on in shock, suddenly feeling fur touch her arms, and saw DarkRenamon kneeling next to her. DarkRenamon put her arms underneath her body, picking her up and moving her away as a girder crashed into where they had stood, before DarkRenamon put her down and they began to run. The boy equally ran for it, partner following as they moved through the collapsing building, before leaping out to land below on the concrete by the road. Mari reached a dead end, turning around in fear to see the building collapsing behind her. She felt arms grab her, and then she was turned around as DarkRenamon leapt backwards, smashing through the wall and landing gracefully (but painfully equally, the vixen's back having taken the brunt of the hit) on the road below, as the building crumbled to the ground. DarkRenamon put Mari down.

"Thank you so much!" she told the black Kitsune.

"It is not a problem…" she replied.

DarkRenamon's eyes narrowed as she looked over Mari's shoulder.

"Get down!" she yelled, pushing Mari to the ground as the blade hit DarkRenamon, throwing her back along the street, scraping along the concrete. Mari looked back in fear.

"DarkRenamon!" she yelled.

The boy chuckled, watching the Kitsune struggle to stand up once again, her data fizzing around the centre where the blade had hit. Mari ran over to DarkRenamon, lifting one of the Kitsune's arms over her shoulder for support.

"Thanks…" DarkRenamon said to her, her breaths laboured and painful, much like Mari's own breaths.

"Aw, such a touching scene…" the boy taunted. "Cut!" he yelled, as the digimon next to him once again opened his mouth, a blade flying from it.

"BLADE ATTACK!" he yelled, the blade precisely aimed for Mari. DarkRenamon stepped forward, ready to take it.

"No!" Mari yelled, unbeknownst that her hands were glowing.

A fireball erupted from the building, colliding with the blade and burning it away as the gas tanks in the building exploded, the remains collapsing as well, fire engines beginning to arrive.

The digimon growled in annoyance at what had happened. "What the hell was that?" the boy asked. "Pah, just good luck…" he added, another ball of energy drawn into his hand.

"Who are you?!" Mari asked, once again supporting the Kitsune.

"It is not even worth you knowing, for you shall be dead soon enough…" the boy replied. "Goodbye!" he replied, throwing the ball of energy at Mari.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**12:04 JST**

Rika sat, alone with her thoughts, except for her yellow fox-like partner, and of course, the ever present voice in her head.

'**You have to tell him…'**

'_I know I do…I just don't know how…'_

Harmony groaned, this was giving her a headache, it had all came as so unexpected, and Rika had been basically unresponsive all day.

Rika glanced up to Renamon, standing at the doorway and looking up to the sky.

"What's wrong?" she asked the Kitsune.

"I just saw BlazeDonnermon fly past…"

"Hmm…"

"He looked angry, and he was flying fast. Something must be happening…Rika, we have to help!"

Rika looked to her partner, before looking to the floor. "I just don't feel like it…"

"**Rika, you've lied to everyone, and now you're lying to me and your partner as well…tell us the truth!"**

Rika frowned, looking to the ground, sobbing quietly, before her short-lived tears stopped. "What happens if I die…"

"Huh?" Renamon questioned.

"Normally when we fight, we both decide that we have to fight, and agree to face the consequences of it. But the baby can't choose…if I die, it's not only me who loses my life, but the baby too…I've got to be more careful…and I'm not sure enough of my mental readiness right now to face a battle with the confidence that I'll come out the other side in one piece…"

Renamon frowned, looking to her partner, and walking over to her and sitting next to her, putting her arm around the redhead.

"I understand…" she told her partner, as footsteps approached the hideout, Renamon's ears twitching.

"What the hell is going on?" asked a voice. Rika looked up in surprise to see Takato Matsuki, looking back into her eyes in surprise at the scene he had walked in on.

* * *

**Mitsukoshi Department Store, Ginza**

**12:04 JST**

"SWEPT SLASH!"

The ball of energy, swatted aside, collided with the rubble, kicking it into the air and throwing it down to the ground, pinging like raindrops as it landed on the concrete, blood splattered in places as well. BlazeDonnermon felt like he was going to puke, an act that Ryder knew he would've done if he weren't biomerged with his partner. He landed near Mari.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Mari, pushing down a lump in her throat, nodded. "It's horrific…"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the boy asked. "It's like rain, but a rain of blood…"

"You are sick!" Ryder replied, turning to face the black-haired boy.

The boy chuckled. "A lot more blood shall flow in the future…and also, you're the one that caused it! You and your heroism act…"

BlazeDonnermon frowned. "Who are you?" he asked.

The boy looked around, noting the police cars and officers that had begun to gather. It would not bode well for his plans if he were captured, although it would only be a momentary delay at best, the spilling of blood returning him to his task. "I best leave…" he replied, turning and walking away. "I have buildings to destroy…"

"Tell me who you are!" BlazeDonnermon ordered, raising a hand with a fireball in it.

The boy chuckled. "Taiki Araki, and BlackRyudamon…go on, use your little toy on him…"

Donmon growled, while Ryder glanced to the 'toy' on his wrist. "BlackRyudamon, Virus Type, Rookie Level, attacks Blade Attack and Helm Return…"

"How do you summon balls of energy?" DarkRenamon asked weakly.

"Call it a talent of mine…now…we'll be leaving…" he replied.

"Stop!" Mari called, as Taiki smirked, his partner and him suddenly vanishing quickly.

"It also says that BlackRyudamon is like a samurai…" Ryder added. Mari frowned, looking up to him.

"We have to stop him!"

"No…I have to stop him…" Ryder corrected. "I don't want you to be hurt again...this time you were lucky to survive…you've got to go back to the apartment…it's not in the line…" he added.

Mari frowned, about to object, before pausing. "Okay…"

"DarkRenamon, make sure she is kept safe, okay?" Donmon asked. DarkRenamon nodded.

"I will protect her with my life…"

Mari looked up to the Kitsune, who looked back to her with a look of complete seriousness. "Thanks…" she told the vixen speechlessly, who nodded.

BlazeDonnermon nodded. "Thanks…" he told the Kitsune, before looking at the devastation. "I can't let this be repeated…" he said, seeing the rubble, the bodies and the blood. The screams had stopped, all those who had done so were now either dead, unconscious, or on their way to hospital, either as a patient or accompanying a loved one, in some cases both.

"Good luck…" Mari told him. He nodded and smiled.

"Thanks…" he told her, before flying into the air. Mari watched him fly away, before frowning and sighing.

"You want to fight, don't you?" DarkRenamon asked.

Mari nodded, looking to the ground on one side with a saddened expression. "I see all these people dying, and I want to stop it…I want to be able to control this…I can't stand just standing back and watching…"

DarkRenamon then surprised Mari by pulling her into an embrace. "I do not wish to do so either Mari…" she told the red-brown haired girl. "But we can't help them if we are dead…" she looked to the sky where BlazeDonnermon had gone. "We'll have to leave this one up to them…"

Mari nodded sadly. "I just want to be a Tamer, that's the truth of the matter…" she said dejectedly.

"And I want to be your partner…" DarkRenamon replied, putting out her hand. "All we can do is hope…"

"Yeah, that some day a D-Vice pops out of thin air. Who am I kidding, I'd make do with one of the original Digivices if I had to."

Mari took DarkRenamon's hand, smiling as Mari looked at the vixen.

"You amaze me DarkRenamon…you really do…you seem to be willing to risk your own life in order to prevent others, today was just an addition to the list. I wish that I could do that…"

"No…" the vixen replied.

"Huh?"

"I don't want you to have to lose your own life…I don't want to see you suffer…I protect you because you helped me, helped me see the truth before I let myself be killed when we were in New York. I owe you a debt of gratitude…"

"You don't owe me anything DarkRenamon" Mari replied. "We help each other, that's what friends do…that's what partners do…"

DarkRenamon nodded. "As you wish…" she replied, as they began to walk back to the apartment.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**12:07 JST**

"Takato…" Rika greeted, still sounding dejected.

Takato frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking at Renamon with her arm round her, comforting her about lord-knows-what.

"Yeah…"

"Sorry Rika, but I find that really hard to believe right now…" he replied, sitting down on the other side of Rika to Renamon.

"I don't blame you…" Rika replied. "I'm sitting, in the hideout, on my own, being comforted by Renamon and I've been sad all day…people were almost queuing up to talk to me, and I couldn't tell a single one…I've been closed to you all day and I'm really sorry Takato…"

Takato smiled, kissing her as he put his arm round her. "Don't worry, we all have days like that at some point or another…it'll soon pass…"

Rika frowned, she knew that this was one thing that just wouldn't pass by like that.

"So what exactly has got you so…glum…?" Takato asked, fishing around for the exact word in his mind.

Rika frowned. Takato looked at her eagerly, wanting to know the truth. The truth that she still didn't feel ready to tell him. But she wasn't going to lie to him, not again, that was unfair on him, and she wouldn't let herself continue to be lie to him like that…

"I don't want to tell you…"

"Huh? Why not?" Takato asked. "I thought we told each other everything…"

"Yeah, thanks for the Kazu and the nightlight info by the way, it will prove very useful in blackmail…" Rika replied, smiling.

Takato chuckled. "Don't mention it…but still, why can't you tell me?"

Rika frowned. "Look…I really want to tell you, but at the same time, I'm not ready to do so…can you just give me a while to come to terms with it myself…"

"Yeah…" he replied, smiling back to her, and taking her hand in his, putting them palm to palm and putting their fingers between each others.

"Thanks…Takato, I don't say it that often, but you're a really great guy…I'm really glad I have you…"

"Same to you too…" Takato replied. "Although replace guy with girl…"

Rika chuckled. "So why aren't you still working at the bakery?"

"It's all this buildings falling down stuff, everyone in the city is now petrified that they'll be next, no-one's coming to the bakery, so my parents let me go free. I'm heading to Hypnos to see how I can help solve this problem, and stop more people getting hurt. Are you coming?" he asked.

Rika held his hand tighter. "Sure…I want to find out what everyone's been talking about all this morning…" she replied.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so Rika joins the battle, as does Takato. Everything is set up now as we enter the second arc of this story, and Henry and Terriermon are set to have their own plot explored. A lot of morals will need to be questioned regarding Terriermon's plan, and they don't have much time in which to do so.

Next time…

Will Taiki be beaten? Who is he anyway? Will Rika ever tell Takato?

Find out in 'His Truth', Chapter Eight of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	8. His Truth

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

_His Truth_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Skies of Tokyo**

**12:13 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

A person arriving in Tokyo that day would probably be quite surprised to see a large lioness beast tearing through the roads and a silver and yellow-orange bipedal dragon and a large golden phoenix soaring through the sky. However, considering the attacks earlier that day, it was unlikely anyone would actually be coming to Tokyo, fleeing in terror was a more likely act. The pattern of the buildings that collapsed was not unnoticed by the rest of the country besides Hypnos, and it had become somewhat a subject of debate on Digital Watch.

"We have to hurry; the next attack is in two minutes…" WarGreymon told his fellow biomerges, who nodded.

Of all those actually in Tokyo, the only ones with even the remotest idea of what they were doing (besides Taiki and BlackRyudamon, who anyone other than Ryder, Donmon, Mari and DarkRenamon were yet to know the existence of) were those Tamers and government workers associated with Hypnos. SaberLeomon avoided some people crossing the street as she ran, but still surprised them as the golden blur passed the end of streets.

"Do you think that Ryder made it?" Jeri asked.

"No idea, we have to hope he did though…" Sora replied, SaberLeomon nodding in response as they looked to see the building.

"This is it!" WarGreymon announced.

"What do we do?" Sora asked, but was silenced as an explosion rocked the structure.

"We're too late!" Jeri said sadly.

"We can help!" WarGreymon replied, rushing forward as floors collapsed onto floors, exploding outwards as screams resounded through the air, WarGreymon floated above the structure, Phoenixmon arriving next to him soon, as SaberLeomon shielded her eyes with her paw as the dust cloud descended.

"It's horrible…" Jeri said, hearing the screams and the explosions as rubble rained down on the concrete and tarmac below, as the building became a simple pile of rubble, sirens sounding as they approached.

WarGreymon landed on the pile, looking around for anything notable in the wreckage, but not expecting to find anything. He turned to see a boy standing motionless in the middle of the rubble, facing away from him.

"Hey kid, are you okay?" he asked, the existence of the person after the collapse surprising him. The boy noticed him speaking and turned around, allowing WarGreymon to get a closer look as SaberLeomon and Phoenixmon joined him to either side. The boy had black hair cut short, a black jacket lined with red edges, a black shirt and black pants. His curious expression at first as to who was talking to him quickly turned to annoyance as he faced the three megas.

"More of you…" he complained.

"How did you survive that?" Sora asked, surprised that the boy was still standing and seemed perfectly intact despite having been in a collapsing building.

The boy chuckled, summoning a ball of red and white energy into his hand and bouncing it up and down. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, mocking those facing him.

"No…" Tai replied.

"The Angels are as stupid as I thought…" the boy muttered in disgust.

"Angels?" Sora questioned.

"Why is it obvious?" Tai asked.

"How can you summon energy?" SaberLeomon asked.

"I caused this collapse, stupid!"

"What?!" Tai asked in alarm. "You're just a kid…"

"Appearances can be deceiving…" he replied. "Now get out of my sight!" he yelled, tossing the ball of energy forwards at his foes. WarGreymon quickly raised his shields, the blast ricocheting off and colliding with a traffic sign nearby, which then disintegrated in the explosion.

"Why are you attacking us?" Sora asked.

"My enemies must be destroyed…" the boy replied.

"What's your name?" Jeri asked.

"Taiki Araki…" the boy replied, summoning another ball of energy. "And that is all you need to know!" he replied, preparing to toss the ball.

"Don't move!" came another voice, and Taiki smirked, knowing the voice coming from over his shoulder, the biomerges seeing BlazeDonnermon standing behind the boy, claw held to Taiki's back.

"Pah…nice move, but won't get you anywhere…" Taiki replied.

"If you move, I stab, so I think that it's in your interests to stand still, got that?" Ryder replied.

Taiki pitched his head slightly, looking out of the corner of his eye into the eyes of the mega behind him, the glance exchanged with the dragon, becoming a glare soon enough, each trying to break the other.

Taiki frowned, spitting in disgust. "Three questions…" he told the dragon, who had yet to stop his glare.

"We'll see about that…" BlazeDonnermon replied, pressing his claw closer to the boys back as a warning. Taiki smirked in response.

"Who are you?" Tai asked, Taiki looking at him and smiling.

"Taiki Araki, the First Demon of Destruction…"

"Demon?" Sora asked. "What's a Demon?"

"I shall go easy on you and count that as one question…the Nine Demons were created by Chaos and Harmony at the dawn of time as the opposite action to the creation of Angels, as every action by Harmony has an equal yet opposite reaction. And now we shall act to take the worlds into a new age of Evil."

"So are you guys like Angels?" Jeri asked.

"We are bitter enemies, but the Demons are far better. The Angels are a pathetic mess of do-gooders who do not know how to use their powers to gain control; they shall die at our hands."

"We won't let you!" Tai cheered, WarGreymon gripping his claw into a fist.

"Yeah, what gives you the right to kill people?!" Jeri asked, horrified at what this boy had done.

"It is fun" he replied, eliciting a look of disgust and horror from the lioness. "Besides, I have now granted you four answers. One too many, so I shall now eliminate you!"

"You aren't going anywhere!" BlazeDonnermon replied, digging his claw into the boy's back as a further warning. Taiki smirked.

"One final question then…" he replied. "And then you die, so make it a good one!"

"Where is your partner?" Donmon asked, suddenly noticing the absence of the samurai. Taiki chuckled.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied.

"That's just another question…" Tai claimed. "Give us an answer…"

"Oh, but I think Ryder knows…" Taiki replied, glancing over his shoulder at the dragon, and smiling.

Realisation swept across the dragon, as his eyes widened. "No…you can't have…you bastard!" Ryder replied, BlazeDonnermon turning.

"First mistake!" Taiki replied, slamming his ball of energy into BlazeDonnermon's unprotected back, Ryder and Donmon screaming in pain and falling separately to the ground.

Taiki stepped forward, putting his foot on Ryder's neck, and drawing an energy ball into his hand.

"And so the First Angel shall die by the hands of the First Demon…" he taunted. "Quite apt actually…"

Ryder groaned in pain, looking up to one side to face their foe, chuckling.

"Leave Ryder alone!" Donmon yelled, rushing to attack Taiki, claw outstretched as his wings swept back and he leapt into the air, aiming for Taiki's head.

Taiki smirked, and raised his other hand, the claw touching it. A burst of red and white energy swept aside as they collided, Donmon being thrown twenty feet away and scraping through the rubble, pushing it into a small pile as he groaned in pain.

"Now, for you…" Taiki told Ryder, holding his energy ball above Ryder.

"Do that, and die!" WarGreymon told him, holding his claw out to Taiki. Taiki smirked, turning around and throwing the energy ball at the dragon's front, throwing him back (although thankfully the biomerge staying intact) and making him slide across the ground nearby, crashing into the remains of a wall.

"Tai!" Sora yelled in alarm as Taiki advanced on her boyfriend's biomerged form.

WarGreymon groaned, pushing himself up weakly. "I'm fine…" he replied. "Ryder, run!" he ordered. Ryder stood up, and rushed across to his now dedigivolved partner.

Taiki glanced across to Ryder, now holding the bat-like MiniDonmon in his arms. "Don't think I'm finished with you!" he yelled, before turning around, WarGreymon once again raising his shields to deflect an energy ball, which crashed into rubble nearby and threw it into the air, raining down along with blood once again, horrifying those watching. WarGreymon himself was pushed back through the rubble.

Ryder watched, his partner looking out weakly from his arms. He frowned, before beginning to turn. "I'll be back…" he whispered. "I have to help Mari…" he added, turning and running away down a road.

* * *

**Streets of Tokyo**

**12:15 JST**

Mari looked to DarkRenamon, as they walked along the almost deserted street. Every parking space was full, their owners taking the chance to escape, leading to the occasional car left in the street. Mari frowned at the emptiness of the area, despite the fact that it allowed her 'partner' to walk without fear of being seen.

"This is awful, isn't it?" she said to the Kitsune.

DarkRenamon nodded in response, frowning.

"Who does that kid even think he is?" the girl asked. "To just kill people like that…as if they are simply a task to be done…"

"I am unsure. He is not normal, I am sure of that."

"Then what is he? He didn't even use his Digimon; he just summoned a ball of energy, and blew buildings to pieces."

DarkRenamon nodded. "We have to stop him…"

"I wish we could…" Mari replied sadly.

DarkRenamon nodded sadly in response, glancing to her hands. "So do I Mari, I am a Digimon, it is natural for me to want to fight in these battles. After seeing Yggdrasil use my mega form…it disgusted me, and yet at the same time I seek that power. The power to be able to help, to be able to fight alongside others, and most of all to be able to protect you Mari…"

Mari took DarkRenamon's hand in hers, attempting to put her fingers between her three white fingers to reassure the vixen, and succeeding except for the fact that she was left with an unused finger, owing to the discrepancies in Renamon's physiology compared to hers. She smiled, glancing to the vixen's face, one of surprise. "I'll help you in that…I promise…" she replied. "Even without a D-Vice…I still feel like we're partners…and we will be, we'll find a way, I promise you that…"

"Thank you…" DarkRenamon replied. "We will fight together…" she added, gripping Mari's hand.

Mari smiled, leaning her head on DarkRenamon's shoulder and closing her eyes. "I wonder what biomerging feels like…" she pondered, feeling her 'partner's' soft fur, slightly ruffled by the earlier battle.

DarkRenamon nodded. "I presume that would be how I would attain mega level…" she added.

"Ryder said it's like being one with your partner, being closer than ever. You'd think that it'd be difficult both having control, but your friendship with your partner ends to you being so synchronised with them that you can work together as one…" she said, her voice somewhat of awe.

DarkRenamon nodded. "Also recall that he said it was like being in a bubble…"

Mari nodded, taking her head off her 'partner's' shoulder and her expression changing to one of inquisition. "Yeah, I didn't understand what he meant either…"

DarkRenamon began to recall what Harmony had told her back in the Digital World, when they were in the Tibo Village and she was in Takato's body. "Harmony suggested that the bubble is actually the Digimon's Digicore…"

"Hmm…this is all very strange…to be honest, the first thing I really want is a D-Vice, this all comes after that…"

DarkRenamon nodded in response, before her ears twitched. Her happy mood faded and her eyes narrowed in determination, as she turned to face behind Mari.

"Mari, run!" she told the girl, panic in her voice, as Mari glanced to where DarkRenamon was looking, where there now stood a large dinosaur-like form in the street. Heavy deep purple armour ran along its back, and onto its head, and it had black armour on the front of its neck. It had purple shoulder pads lined with steel trim, and a steel headdress with a purple gem encrusted in the end of it, his nose. The face underneath was imposing, yellow eyes glaring at them, and the end of its tail finished in exposed dull yellowish hairs, the same colour as its three-toed feet, legs and face, the hairs on the tail tied together by a long thin purple band. He roared, before opening his mouth as a blade glinted.

"STABBING SPEAR!" the beast yelled, an iron spear being launched from his mouth as Mari stared on in shock. DarkRenamon acted quickly, grabbing Mari and leaping into the air out of the way of the blast, as the spear collided with the ground and exploded below. DarkRenamon pulled Mari tightly close to her as she flipped over in the air and landed gracefully in the middle of the road, noticing a car reversing away a short distance away upon seeing the beast.

"Who are you?!" Mari asked in fear.

"ReverseGinRyumon…" the beast replied, its voice deep and nasal, before his tail began to glow.

"Mari, run!" DarkRenamon told her 'partner', the Kitsune still facing the beast. Mari paused, looking into the vixen's green orbs.

"WAR TAIL!" roared the dinosaur. DarkRenamon turned, time seeming to slow, her green orbs meeting Mari's brownish ones as the tail swung towards them.

Mari realised that it was too late for her to move, and began to panic as DarkRenamon stepped forward and grabbed the tail, the energy flowing through it burning her hands as Mari heard them singe. DarkRenamon groaned in pain, as she pushed her rear foot onto the ground behind her, trying to keep the tail stationary.

"Mari, move!" she told her 'partner', who nodded, realising that her hesitation had simply caused pain to one of her close friends. Mari ran from the tail's trajectory, as DarkRenamon breathed a sigh of relief, leaping up into the air as the tail slid under her, knocking her feet. DarkRenamon was knocked off balance as she was flipped over, slamming headfirst into the ground, her body falling over afterwards so she landed on her back.

ReverseGinRyumon roared with annoyance, as his mouth once again glinted, displaying a blade prepared to fire. "STABBING SPEAR!" he roared, the spear fired towards the vixen. DarkRenamon leapt into the air, bouncing off the spear, and sending it harmlessly to the ground, as she crossed her hands, black diamonds appearing and held close to her.

"BLACK SHARDS!" she called, as the diamonds flew towards the dinosaur, who smirked as they merely bounced off of his armour.

"Did not even hurt…" he replied arrogantly, as the diamonds collided with the roadway, cars and buildings nearby, exploding as glass was thrown into the air. DarkRenamon landed, frowning, as ReverseGinRyumon slammed his tail into a car as a show of power. The car exploded, a plume of smoke rising into the air as the engine smouldered away afterwards.

"What was the point of that?" DarkRenamon questioned.

"Destruction is the aim of my partner, and I accompany him in that…"

"But why do you follow him?"

"For the same reason your Tamer follows you…or is she not your Tamer?"

"She is not my Tamer, despite my wishes."

ReverseGinRyumon smirked, looking to the girl standing watching the battle nearby. "Then she is simply prey to be killed…" the beast replied. DarkRenamon narrowed her gaze.

"Stay away from her or else…" she warned.

"Or else what?"

"Or else I'll make sure to rip you to shreds, before hunting down every single piece of data that makes up your form and burn it so your data shall never again hurt anyone…"

"Feisty…but that feistiness is merely a façade…you are useless against me, you are better off as data…"

DarkRenamon growled, before leaping forward, her whole form glowing with orange-red fire. "DEMON PAW!" she roared, colliding with the beast, who made no efforts to move as he was pushed backwards only slightly, DarkRenamon colliding with his armoured neck. She landed on the ground in front of him, before yelping in pain as he slammed his head sideways into her, throwing her into a nearby car. DarkRenamon stood up just in time, the car then exploding, pushing her forward to the ground.

"STABBING SPEAR!" he roared, the spear flying once again from his mouth towards DarkRenamon, who rolled aside just in time as the spear clanged to the tarmac besides her. DarkRenamon pressed her hands down, flipping up and over onto her legs, as ReverseGinRyumon grunted. DarkRenamon looked to one side, not moving her body to match to facilitate quick later movements, to Mari standing in line with her a short distance away along the road.

"Mari, my attacks aren't working!" she told her 'partner', who frowned.

"What can I do?" Mari asked her.

DarkRenamon frowned sadly. "Nothing, I know…I wish you could…"

"Ah, how touching…" ReverseGinRyumon taunted.

"Shut up!" Mari replied.

"Humph…your so-called partner is as feisty as you are…as a Samurai; we have respect for those who are greater than us…clearly this pathetic excuse for a human does not share that respect…"

"Don't you dare hurt her!" DarkRenamon warned. "Or else!"

"You make the same threats so often, but you lack any clout to back them up with. A shame really, I had heard that Renamon were excellent fighters, clearly their dark equivalent do not live up to the same reputation."

"And I had heard that Samurai knew respect and only to challenge those who want to fight them. Clearly you do not fit that requirement…" DarkRenamon replied.

"Humph…I serve my master, which is all I adhere by…the bushido code is overruled by him in all cases…"

"You call him a master, aren't you friends with him at all?" Mari asked, concern in her voice.

"Friendship is weak, I serve him because he had proved his power to me…we are partners merely in battle, outside of it I merely serve as his protector, although he doesn't need it…"

"That's awful…" Mari replied.

"I do not have a partner, and I wish I did, and yet you have one and couldn't care less about it…" DarkRenamon told the dinosaur. "You disgust me…" she added spitefully.

"As you do me…" ReverseGinRyumon replied. "You are pathetic, you cannot even fight me and you await your ally Donmon to protect you every time…you are not worthy of being called a Digimon…"

"I think the same of you…" DarkRenamon replied.

ReverseGinRyumon spat in disgust. "Of course, you will be the one who will no longer be a Digimon soon enough, although you will be part of one…"

DarkRenamon narrowed her eyes, glaring at the beast. "Over my dead body…"

"Yes, that was exactly my point…although you wouldn't actually leave a body behind. Your so-called partner, on the other hand…"

"I said leave her alone!" DarkRenamon insisted.

"Do not worry, I shall destroy you first before I touch her, you are my foe and I owe your death to you…" ReverseGinRyumon told the vixen. "Now, enough with talking…WAR TAIL!" he roared, swinging his tail around. DarkRenamon leapt into the air to dodge, as five cars were hit by the tail and exploded, their owners likely to be annoyed upon their return. This would be a very difficult thing to explain insurance wise. DarkRenamon landed on one of the remaining cars, and looked aside, to Mari.

"Mari, do you think he has any weak spots?" she asked the red-brown haired girl.

Mari looked to the beast, analysing its form and looking for any areas that could be weak. "Hmm…his legs, feet, face and the end of his tail perhaps?" she suggested. DarkRenamon, determination still in her eyes, nodded, and leapt forward.

"It is a shame you have to say your ideas as well, I believe that other Renamon have telepathic abilities…with their partners at least…" the beast taunted. DarkRenamon advanced on him, landing under his snout, and balled her right hand into a fist, leaping up.

"DEMON PAW!" she called, slamming her paw into the beast's jaw, before landing below. The beast smirked, unhurt by the attack, before slamming his neck once again into an annoyed DarkRenamon, the plan not working.

"Sorry!" Mari apologised, as DarkRenamon landed in the remains of a car, standing up quickly and leaping into the air.

"WAR TAIL!" once again resounded through the streets, as the tail swept under DarkRenamon's legs, thankfully missing this time around. DarkRenamon leapt aside, moving once again to the front of ReverseGinRyumon, noticing Mari standing a short distance behind her. The beast's gaze returned to the vixen, who advanced once again. "You are becoming a pain!" he complained.

DarkRenamon smirked, drawing a large portion of her energy into her claws and summoning black diamonds once again as she leapt into the air, aiming for ReverseGinRyumon's neck as he looked up to face her. "BLACK SHARDS!" she roared, feeling the energy drain of the enhanced attack as the diamonds collided with the beast's neck, exploding all over it. DarkRenamon landed, hoping that the attack had had some affect.

It didn't, clearly, as ReverseGinRyumon began to laugh. "Do you really think that would ever work? Oh, hold on…you have now drained your energy…shame, because from what my master has told me, that no longer makes you the strongest opponent here…" he replied, turning to Mari, and opening his mouth, a blade glinting. Mari looked on in horror. "STABBING SPEAR!" the beast roared, blade shooting forwards to her.

DarkRenamon, acting quickly, leapt forward, doing the only act she could to prevent the blade reaching the girl. The blade collided with her mid-section, and her eyes glazed over as she felt it pass through, and was thrown to the ground in front of Mari, who looked on in shock and horror at DarkRenamon.

"DarkRenamon!" she called in fear, looking over the vixen's form. A large hole was growing in the middle of her as data began to be dissipitated. "Please, don't!" she told the Kitsune, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You were going to be my partner…" she sobbed. DarkRenamon frowned.

"I'm sorry…" she replied, as the last of her data broke from her form. ReverseGinRyumon smirked, as he glowed white, her data drawn into his own form.

"No…" Mari yelled, looking on in sadness, outstretching her palm, before she felt her arm go weak. Her hand returned to her side, as she fell to her knees. "You monster…" she wept.

"_**You amaze me DarkRenamon…you really do…you seem to be willing to risk your own life in order to prevent others, today was just an addition to the list. I wish that I could do that…"**_

"_**No…"**_

"_**Huh?"**_

"_**I don't want you to have to lose your own life…I don't want to see you suffer…I protect you because you helped me, helped me see the truth before I let myself be killed when we were in New York. I owe you a debt of gratitude…"**_

'_She gave her life to save me…but that makes me suffer in the process…I couldn't help her…'_

Regardless of DarkRenamon's words before, Mari realised that she had to come to terms with something.

DarkRenamon was dead.

And, as she looked up into the face of her killer, she realised something else. She would be dead too soon if she didn't do something.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A dramatic close to this chapter, and probably quite a surprise to some people. Anywho, no Rika and Takato in this chapter, but we did learn about a new foe, the Demons, who will be immensely important from now on.

Next time…

With DarkRenamon deceased, how will Mari escape a similar fate? Will Ryder make it in time to save her? Will WarGreymon, Phoenixmon and SaberLeomon be able to defeat Taiki, or will a human manage to beat three megas?

Find out in 'Her Despair', Chapter Nine of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	9. Her Despair

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 9**

_Her Despair_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Streets of Tokyo**

**12:29 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Mari kneeled on the tarmac roadway; paralysed by the loss of one she hoped would one day become her partner. In front of her in the damaged street, destroyed cars lining it and debris from the explosions and window smashes lying around on the roadway, stood the large dinosaur that had been the killer of the fox-like Digimon she had lost.

Her data was now incorporated into the Digimon, having been absorbed in the way that Mari had seen several times in the past. The Digimon showed absolutely no regret, no regard for what he had done, the suffering and misery he had caused, and he was prepared to kill again, his next kill planned to be this very girl who kneeled in the street.

"She didn't even have much data…" he taunted, adding further insult to Mari's emotional injuries. She screamed in anger, looking up to him, face reddened by the tears which now flowed down them.

"You bastard!" she cursed. "You killed her!"

"I completed one part of my task successfully, although she was but a mere distraction for the main part of my task. Your death is my next assignment, and it shall be quick and painless…"

"You don't even care…" she continued angrily. "You're not even sorry for what you have done…"

"I have no need to be…"

"I'm going to make you hurt…make you pay…mark my words…"

"Cursed words…" ReverseGinRyumon noted, chuckling slightly. "You are completely unaware of the events that have followed them in the past…"

"What do you mean?"

"Megidramon, Kitsunemon, those words left those wretched creatures in their wake…but it is not a fear for you, for you do not have a partner…"

"So why haven't you killed me yet?!" Mari asked, her pain lessening her sense of logic in what she was saying.

"Very well then…" the beast replied, his mouth opening and a blade prepared.

"Hold on…" Mari said quickly, something dawning on her as her crying ceased periodically.

"What is it?" ReverseGinRyumon asked, after withdrawing the blade, irritation in his voice.

"You said that I became the strongest opponent after DarkRenamon used up her energy…"

"Humph…" ReverseGinRyumon replied. "Compared to that pathetic weakling, even a human is more of a threat…"

"But we just simply aren't, are we? We're weak, we run from danger, any Digimon attack would be likely to leave us in hospital for weeks" Mari replied, amusing reasoning dawning on her. She chuckled as she stood up.

"What is so funny?" the beast asked.

"You've told me all I need to know…of course you fear me, any normal human is weak, but you fear a human that is more than normal. And, if my suspicions are confirmed, that would mean that I can only be one thing…" Mari replied, her right hand glowing as she placed it to her front, palm outstretched, it glowing as she did so.

"And what would that be?" ReverseGinRyumon continued to ask, a tinge of fear entering his voice.

"It means that I'm not human…and that means I can only be one thing…" Mari replied, a smile creeping across her features. "An Angel…"

"So you finally figured things out, did you?" ReverseGinRyumon asked, irritation in his voice. Mari heard nothing of his question, as she experienced something akin to an epiphany, her eyes closing.

Voices suddenly roared through Mari's head as she felt energy flow through her veins, the light expanding down from her hand and leading to her whole body becoming luminescent, as her hair was ruffled slightly.

"_**Awoken by the truth…"**_

"_**The control over everything…"**_

"_**Space and matter, noughts and ones, all controlled by the Angel…"**_

"_**The war, fighting at the forefront, controlling and leading the battlefront…"**_

"_**Fighting in the name of he who was lost in injustice…"**_

"_**Great sorrows, but great triumphs to match…"**_

"_**Awake!"**_

"_**The oncoming storm!"**_

"_**Awake!"**_

The last voice finally woke her from her trance, a voice oddly similar to Ryder's.

"_**Awake…the Second Angel awakes…"**_

Mari opened her eyes, now filled with determination as her tears ceased to be, as did the glowing. She looked to the beast in front of her, and smiled.

"I am the Second Angel of Control…control over matter, over data, over space…this explains the Babel Fish thing I guess…"

ReverseGinRyumon's expression had now truly changed to one of fear and agitation, looking at the human girl in front of him who had now somehow gone from sobbing on the floor to standing, facing him completely fearlessly.

"And now, for my first act, I shall reverse an injustice that should never have occurred…" Mari declared, raising and outstretching her palm once again, it glowing bluish white as she did so.

ReverseGinRyumon suddenly felt himself tingle, his data being altered as light phased over him.

"I AM NOT LETTING HER DIE!" Mari yelled, the voice echoing in the streets with her determination and raw emotions.

He screamed in pain suddenly as particular pieces of data flew out of him, amassing in the air above him.

"You see…" she began, smiling even more at his pain. "Data and matter are both the same, you can remove both of them from another set of atoms or zeros and ones, as long as you know exactly which atoms or zeros and ones to remove…which of course I do…" she explained.

She moved her hand slightly, the data flowing towards her, surrounding her form. The data felt warm, comforting, calming, soothing, and, in particular, familiar, as it seemed to tingle around her. She smiled happily, knowing that she had succeeded.

'_I want to biomerge with her…I could draw her data into me and trigger it…but we can't yet…it would fail, she doesn't have a Digicore restored yet, and I would lose her…this is a great feeling though…'_ she thought, as she closed her eyes, feeling her chest warm in particular from the same power that would trigger a biomerge in the other Tamers, activated by pressing the digivice against it.

Mari put her hand out, the data moving in front of her, and glowing as it began to move together, particular pieces moving faster than others as they formed an orb first of all, the orb being DarkRenamon's Digicore.

"And once you have the atoms, with matter it is a simple enough job to put them together in the right order and make something…" she continued, ReverseGinRyumon now increasingly annoyed by her powers, but knew that acting to stop her in this process would simply result in his death, and hence the failure of his master's plan. "But with Digimon, it's even easier…" she added.

A wireframe resembling DarkRenamon suddenly flew out of the data core, surrounding it as the rest of the data began to be reattached to it, filling in slowly from her legs upwards. ReverseGinRyumon watched, annoyingly finding himself impressed by the process.

"…once you have the Digicore, the form is already there, the data simply needs to be added" she finished, stepping forward and pulling a surprised DarkRenamon, her eyes widened in shock at her unexpected return, into an embrace, burying her head into DarkRenamon's mane, as the last of the data finished being added, that on the white tips of her ears. DarkRenamon looked down, before putting her arms around Mari.

"Thank you…" she told the girl.

"Don't mention it…" she replied. "But an Angel, pretty important thing…"

"You're an Angel?!" DarkRenamon asked in surprise.

"Second Angel of Control…" came a new voice, with an impressed tone, and Mari let go of her partner, turning to see Ryder standing not far away, a weakened MiniDonmon sitting with a surprised expression on his head. Ryder pulled Mari into his arms, and she greeted him with a kiss. "I'm so glad that you're safe…"

"Same…" Mari replied, nodding.

"That was one of the strangest feelings ever, by the way…" Ryder noted, Mari cocking her head in confusion. "I felt it…I felt you awakening…"

"Really?" Mari asked. "That's…that's really amazing…"

"You really aren't lucky with your body, are you?" MiniDonmon asked DarkRenamon, who smiled and nodded.

"You could say that…" she replied, MiniDonmon chuckling. Mari's eyes returned to determination, as she moved from Ryder's grip and turned to face ReverseGinRyumon. Ryder and MiniDonmon looked to the beast, as did DarkRenamon, turning round, rejuvenated body prepared for battle.

Ryder raised his wrist across his arm and looked at the D-Vice, MiniDonmon looking at their foe. "ReverseGinRyumon, Virus Type, Champion Level, attacks Stabbing Spear and War Tail…" he noted.

"Ryder, this is my battle…" Mari told him, glancing over a shoulder whilst she clenched her palm into a fist. Ryder nodded, smiling.

"Go get 'em!" he cheered.

"Now it is time for some payback…" DarkRenamon added, glowing.

"Ready?" Mari asked, turning to her partner. DarkRenamon smirked and nodded. "Then we'll begin…" she added.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**DarkRenamon Digivolve to…**

DarkRenamon slashed at the air before her data was once again stripped from its wireframe, starting from her snout, tail, arms and legs and working towards her very core, although this time it was for good reason as a ball of black and blue data enshrouded her. The data began to reform on her extremities, as zaps of lightning collided with the ball, altering her form as a new data set was created and triggered. Nine dark blue-purple tails replaced one, and a white mane ran up her neck, her head forming as the data set created it, her green eyes glowing with determination. She swung herself around, revealing her form, a quadruped fox that looked like an alternate colour version of Kyubimon, blue-purple replacing yellow and the charms around her head being black and white instead of red and white, the bells at the end staying gold as always. As she swung her tails around, orange flames ignited on them and her feet, and burned brightly as she declared her title.

…**Youkomon!**

"Wow…" was all that Mari could say as she stared at the fox in front of her. Sure, she had seen Renamon digivolve to Kyubimon before, but this was completely different. She was involved this time, she was in the action.

And DarkRenamon was her partner, regardless of not having a digivice.

"Thank you Mari…" Youkomon said to her partner, who nodded.

"Good luck…" the girl replied.

"With you by my side, I don't even need that…" Youkomon replied, smiling, as she ran towards her foe.

"Youkomon, Data Type, Champion Level, attacks Flame Tail Blaze and Fox Wheel…" Ryder quoted, scanning the new digimon.

"You are the most persistent Digimon I have ever had to face…" ReverseGinRyumon complained, raising his glowing tail.

Youkomon nodded, smirking. "The last one too…" she replied, pausing in her run as ReverseGinRyumon launched his attack first.

"WAR TAIL!" he roared, the tail once again sweeping around, as Youkomon leapt back away from its reach, her tails raising to attack, orange flames glowing brightly as they became superimposed on her foe.

"FLAME TAIL BLAZE!" she summoned, as the flames shot out of her tails and collided with the dinosaur. The hellish flames reached his core and burned him as he roared in pain, his head going up in the air and exposing his neck. Youkomon smirked, now given a chance to attack and get her final conclusive revenge, until the dinosaur moved his head once again back to its normal place. She frowned; she would need to try a different tactic.

"Go Youkomon!" MiniDonmon cheered, raising his hands and wings. "We love you!"

"What are you, a cheerleader?" Ryder asked, panning his eyes upwards.

"No…I just want her to win…" the bat replied, blushing slightly, something that Ryder noticed in the tone of his voice and out of the corner of his eye. Ryder smiled; it would be an interesting thing to mention later to him. For now, sarcastic taunting would suffice.

"Sure…" Ryder replied, annoying MiniDonmon somewhat.

"That is all it is!" he insisted, still blushing, flying down in front of Ryder's face to look him eye to eye.

Mari chuckled, distracted now by the pair's arguments. "I didn't say it wasn't…" Ryder replied.

"But you said…you suggested that…" MiniDonmon asked, confusing himself in the process. "Oh whatever…" he finished, now completely confused as he landed on the ground in front of his partner. Mari returned her attention to the battle, looking to Youkomon who seemed to be standing still, facing her foe, who was similarly unmoving.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" ReverseGinRyumon taunted. "Attack already!" he added. Youkomon glared down the beast, each intimidating the other.

"Youkomon, what are you waiting for?" Mari asked, confused.

Youkomon did not reply, continuing to stare at her foe, who got tired of waiting.

"If you shall not attack, then I will…STABBING…" the dinosaur began.

"FOX WHEEL!" the fox roared, as the dinosaur's mouth and neck were exposed. She balled herself up into a flaming orange ball, which roared like a dragon as the face of a dragon appeared as part of it, before she collided with the exposed throat and face of the dinosaur before he could counter it. The dinosaur roared in pain, his data flickering as he shrunk back to his rookie form of BlackRyudamon, far smaller than his champion form.

The samurai looked up, hate in his eyes, at the fox standing over him, before sighing and closing his eyes. "I shall return…" he declared, before suddenly vanishing in a blur.

"He got away!" Ryder complained, annoyed at the fact Mari and DarkRenamon's first battle together had not ended in complete success.

Youkomon walked up to her partner, both smiling as Mari touched her nose. "I really can't believe that this is happening…it's so…" she began, fishing around for the words.

"Cool?" MiniDonmon suggested.

"Impressive?" Ryder mooted.

"…no, neither of them, more a sense of amazement and feeling like I've done something…"

"Fulfilment?" Ryder suggested.

"Ah who cares, all that matters Youkomon is that I'm your partner…" Mari said, the fox nodding as she began to glow blue and black.

"What's happening?" she asked fearfully, looking at herself and feeling her data tingle, an emotion that spread to those watching as well.

"Are you okay?" Mari asked, not wanting to lose her partner ever.

Suddenly, a wave of energy and data flowed out of Youkomon as her data reformed back into the familiar shape of DarkRenamon, who looked at Mari in surprise. The ball of energy and data began to glow, floating in front of them.

"The activation of the Second Angel…you using your powers on her…it must have bonded you two together…" Ryder said, looking on in awe.

"Then this makes this…" DarkRenamon began in amazement, pausing as the ball of energy and data flew onto Mari's wrist, forming a D-Vice in watch form. It was like Ryder's, but blue replaced orange.

"About time…" Mari replied, tapping the screen to expand it to its full mode, along her lower arm, similar to Ryder's but again, blue replacing orange, and the screen's information described DarkRenamon, a fact that finally confirmed it for the pair of them.

"Then this makes us partners…" DarkRenamon told her partner. Mari responded to the news in a slightly more overjoyed way, pulling her newfound partner into an embrace, surprising the vixen as she looked down.

"Oh, by the way, she's insane…" MiniDonmon noted, DarkRenamon chuckling as she put her arms around her partner.

"We really should've warned you in advance…" Ryder added.

"Hey!" Mari complained, pulling out of her embrace with her partner and playfully punching Ryder's shoulder, her over-enthusiasm leading to an actual punch.

"Hey, that hurt!" he complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"It'll heal in _time_…" she joked.

"Yeah, but you need a bit more self-_control_…" he replied, the pair chuckling. MiniDonmon looked up to his partner.

"Ryder, we have to stop Taiki and BlackRyudamon…" he told his partner, who nodded, and tapped his D-Vice.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**MiniDonmon Digivolve to…Donmon!**

The Dragon once again replaced the Bat, as his claw-toed feet landed on the ground. Ryder turned to Mari.

"I know that this sounds really patronising after you managed to get a digivolution, but you will be far too weak to help, you'll end up being killed, and I think we've had enough of that for one day…" Ryder said, frowning. Mari nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder to reassure him that what he had said was right.

"Don't worry, I understand. However, one question remains, who is Taiki?" she asked.

"He is the First Demon of Destruction. The Demons are the Angels' bitter enemies, created as the polar opposite because each creation action of that sort by Harmony has an unintended equal and opposite creation reaction…" Ryder explained. Mari nodded, surprised by this.

"So how many of these guys are there going to be?"

"Nine…seems like they don't have the extra one like we have Rey…"

"Could give us the upper hand…"

"I hope…"

Mari nodded, pulling Ryder into a kiss and embrace. "Good luck…" she wished to him, him nodding in response.

They pulled away from their embrace, and Ryder looked to DarkRenamon. "Make sure she stays safe…" he told the black Kitsune, who nodded.

"Of course I will…" she replied, Mari noting the new lack of 'with my life' annexed onto the end, now a prerequisite (and no longer as fatal as she thought it was).

Ryder then had a thought, and fished around in his pocket, pulling out several cards and handing them to Mari, who took them in hand. "Modify and digivolution cards, you may need them…" he told her. She nodded, and Ryder walked over to his partner. "Are you ready? You got beaten up pretty bad back there…"

Donmon nodded. "Ready when you are…" he replied, Ryder nodding.

"Biomerge Digivolution Activate!" he yelled, putting his D-Vice to his chest, and feeling the warm feeling flow over him.

'_One day…'_ Mari and DarkRenamon wished simultaneously.

**BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION**

**Donmon Biomerge Digivolve to…BlazeDonnermon!**

BlazeDonnermon smiled, looking across to Mari, only slightly shorter than him. Ryder still found it surprising that his biomerged height was basically the same as his normal height, but he shrugged it off, wings tapering back as he flew into the air.

"Good luck!" DarkRenamon and Mari called out, as the form flew above the buildings and away.

Silence descended once again on the streets, the sounds of distant sirens being the only thing to break it as wind ruffled along the street.

"We're finally partners…" Mari said to DarkRenamon.

"Wouldn't have it any other way…" the vixen replied. "Where do you wish to go now?"

"Where else?" she asked, amusement in her voice. "Shinjuku Park!" she decided, drawing out a digivolution card in front of her. "Where all Tamers go…"

DarkRenamon nodded, looking closely at the card. She knew that it would become a familiar sight, as Mari raised her right arm with the D-Vice on it.

"We'll be the best Tamer and partner ever, right?" Mari asked her partner, who nodded.

"Of course…" she replied proudly.

"DIGI-MODIFY!" Mari called, sweeping the card through her D-Vice. "Digivolution Activate!" she called, smiling as the light of Digivolution enveloped her partner.

She had finally got her wish.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A heart-warming ending to this chapter, but now we return en masse to the main plots of the story, none of which are by any means over.

Regarding Youkomon's attack names, I altered them from the original because I didn't feel the original names fitted the moves correctly, and they also seemed the wrong way round for some reason (Evil Flame Dragon describing her version of Fox Tail Inferno and Flame Ball describing her version of Dragon Wheel, not to mention the very odd dubbed versions of the attack names, Jaenryuu and Homuradama).

Next time…

What is on Terriermon's CD? Will Rika ever be confident enough to tell Takato? Will Ryder and the others be able to defeat Taiki, the First Demon?

Find out in 'His Slave', Chapter Ten of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	10. His Slave

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

_His Slave_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Streets of Tokyo**

**12:29 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

Taiki smirked, looking back at the three mega Digimon he had left strewn in his wake. It actually still surprised him that he had these abilities, but that didn't take away how impressive they were at all. A glance at the time increased his smirk, as he gathered a large ball of energy into his hand, and moved to face another building, two doors away from the previous target. He glanced back to WarGreymon, struggling to get up from his crater in the roadway; Phoenixmon landed not far away looking similarly worse for wear, and SaberLeomon struggling to stand up.

"See, this is why I will win…the Demons will win every time…" he told the bipedal dragon, before tossing the ball of energy into the building. The building quaked and began to collapse, cascading down as the screams continued, although were far less than previous collapses, the majority of people having fled upon seeing the battle approaching them.

"Why…are…you destroying buildings?" SaberLeomon asked through pain.

"Fear, and terror…you make your enemy scared of your power, they overestimate you…" WarGreymon replied.

"Except overestimating me is the last thing you would possibly want to do, isn't it?" Taiki mocked, tossing an energy ball in his hand. "Because, of course, the consequences would be very severe…" he taunted, tossing the ball at the bipedal dragon, who raised his shields and feebly blocked it, feeling the pain on his hands as he did so. "Pathetic…" Taiki complained.

"Tai, what do we do?" Sora asked, Taiki laughing at them all the while.

WarGreymon stood up, claw held out. "We keep on fighting!" he declared, flying along the street towards the boy, and beginning to spin. "GREAT TORNADO!" he yelled, orange flames surrounding his body as a fiery tornado streaked towards Taiki.

Taiki simply stood still, before tossing an energy ball into the tornado, exploding the whole thing. WarGreymon was thrown aside, slamming into a wall at great velocity, groaning in pain. "Not exactly a smart move, was it?" Taiki mocked. "A tornado naturally sucks up material…" he added, summoning another energy ball, and facing the dragon again. "Since you seem to be the most persistent of these pathetic excuses for Angels, you'll get a prize…death!" he yelled, the energy ball soaring towards WarGreymon.

"CRIMSON FLAME!" Phoenixmon shrieked, wings flapping and burning as a stream of flames let fly from her mouth, hitting the energy ball dead on target before turning to face Taiki, who screamed in pain as his skin singed. When the flames stopped, Taiki looked on in anger.

"You're only human…" Tai noted. "Which means that you are still as vulnerable as one…"

Taiki smirked. "But would you have the guts?"

"Huh?" came a confused expression from WarGreymon.

"Do you have the guts to kill another human?" Taiki chuckled, beginning to laugh. "Oh, I know your history, you leave digimon dying in your wake as you act as the 'protectors' of both worlds, but you stop short of killing other humans. To kill a Digimon, to kill a human, aren't their lives both worth the same?" he asked.

WarGreymon tried to maintain his determined glare, but it began to be broken as the thoughts ran through his head. Taiki began to smile; it seemed to be having effect.

"But those people you killed, their lives are worth the same as well! And you just killed them!" Jeri complained.

"Humph…but you forget one thing…the bad guys can do anything they want…" Taiki replied disdainfully.

"You disgust me…" Tai insulted.

Taiki chuckled. "Think all you want of me, I'm not here to impress you…I'm here to kill you and bring this whole pathetic rock to its end, and then I'll start on the Digital World until nothing remains…"

"But why?" Sora asked. "What do you possibly get from that in the end?"

"Fun…" Taiki replied, laughing evilly. "Pure and simple destructive fun…like killing ants with a magnifying glass…it is my vice, if you have not forgotten…the First Demon of Destruction…"

Taiki smirked at their disgust, turning around to face Ophanimon, Seraphimon and Imperialdramon.

"And do not think you can just sneak up on me…you Angels have overstayed your welcome…" he taunted, gathering a ball of energy once again, and facing Imperialdramon. Ophanimon and Seraphimon prepared their attacks.

"SEFIROT CRYSTALS!"

"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

Taiki leapt over each and every attack, dodging before tossing the energy ball at Imperialdramon upon landing. Imperialdramon raised his cannon.

"GIGA DESTROYER!" he roared, firing the blast which collided with the ball, and then the roadway, Taiki quickly dodging as the roadway exploded in a fireball.

"You couldn't even shoot your own foot…" Taiki taunted. "So pathetic…"

Taiki looked around, at the three weakened Digimon standing to one side, and the three strong ones on the other side. His hand glowed with energy as he faced the weakened ones, and he looked over his shoulder at the megas behind him.

"Don't you dare try to stop me, or else!" he ordered.

"EDEN'S JAVELIN!" Ophanimon summoned, ignoring the order and shooting a beam of holy energy from her javelin. Taiki dodged, before smirking.

"I warned you!" he said, before the energy shot forth from his hand like a large bolt of red and white lightning, colliding with Ophanimon's form, her screaming in pain as the destructive energy burnt at her.

"Kari!" Tai, TK, Davis, Jeri and Sora simultaneously yelled in alarm.

Taiki smirked, turning and hitting each of them with the lightning as his gaze passed them. Ophanimon fell to the ground, and WarGreymon screamed in pain from the bolts which ravaged at his armour and skin, breaking the former in places.

Taiki spoke above their roars and screams of pain in a defiant voice, proudly putting his fist to the air. "No-one defeats the Demons!" he proclaimed.

* * *

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**12:39 JST**

The can of soda clanged against the steel bottom of the drawer as a hand pushed aside the flap, grabbing it and pulling it out, the flap swaying back into place afterwards.

Henry, clicking open the can absent-mindedly, glanced across the room to Terriermon, the clicking of keys rattling against their plastic holders echoing through the dimly lit room. Despite the light shining through casting a beam of hope and optimism on their glum situation, Terriermon has insisted that Henry close the blinds, along with doing various other things for the past hour and a half, the blue haired boy practically becoming the dog-bunny's slave.

Henry still lacked any idea of what his partner was doing, and any looks to Terriermon's work simply yielded a screen of zeros and ones, the two keys that were by now practically worn down to a thin sheet from the repeated pressing. Terriermon's determination had already broken two keyboards, which he had thrown aside before ordering his Tamer to get him a new one so he could continue working.

Henry walked over and sat down on a computer chair near the desk which the bunny sat on, leaning back in the chair and receiving a glare from Terriermon.

"What?" Henry asked, completely bemused as to what was wrong.

"Didn't you consider getting me one?" Terriermon asked aggressively, this work somehow changing his behaviour. Henry felt a tinge of pride in his partner's abilities, despite the grouchiness that he seemed to take on whilst working, and snapping at anyone who asked him what he was doing.

"No, you were busy working…" Henry coolly replied. Terriermon sighed, wiping a beat of sweat from his forehead and returning to work. "I really don't know how you are managing to work at a stretch like this…"

"Hey, when I'm into doing something interesting, I just keep on working non-stop…"

"But what makes this so interesting?"

"It's going to save the day Henry!" Terriermon cheered, not once looking up from his screen.

"It's a program to fix the problem with the Digital World, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So how does it work?"

"Guess…" Terriermon replied.

"A replacement Yggdrasil?"

"Yeah, right, like that'd work…"

"A mindless generator of new Digimon?"

"Wouldn't work, the system needs to have sense to work properly…"

"Giving the Sovereigns the power to create Digimon?"

"Yeah, putting Zhuqs in charge, great idea…"

"A new form of Digimon that clones others?"

"Are you kidding? That'd drive everyone crazy…"

"So what is it then?" Henry asked, by now his patience worn down to a thin line.

"It's an elegant solution…" the bunny replied. "That'll be done soon, so just shut the hell up!"

"I really don't like you when you're like this…" Henry replied.

"Quiet!"

Henry sighed, glancing to the time on his D-Arc. To the best that he knew from his occasional visits to the control room (in other words, the times he got a break from servitude for Terriermon), at the present moment the others were fighting a human and a digimon partner. The building collapsing was increasing, the next one due in a few moments time, at **12:45**. He glanced across the room as there was a tapping on the door, attracting his attention.

"Come in…" he called to the person.

"No, you go out!" Terriermon insisted, as Kristy looked into the room. "You and your small talk distracts me, go away!" he insisted. "And close the door behind you!"

Henry sighed, standing up and walking to the door, Kristy and Kudamon giving him a look of bewilderment as he passed, closing the door behind him. "Has he gone insane?" Kristy asked.

Henry shook his head, sighing. "No, just busy working…"

"I have never seen him act like that before" Kudamon noted.

"Me neither, and I'm his partner…" Henry replied. "Well, I should take some pride in him; he does seem to be…committed to his work…"

"What's he working on?" Kristy asked.

"He said that it was a solution to the problem in the Digital World. You know about that, right?"

"Yeah, I've just been to the control room first…" Kristy replied. "It's awful…"

"How does he plan to solve it?" Kudamon asked curiously.

"No idea, he won't tell even me until he's finished fine-tuning it" Henry replied.

"Can't you just look over his shoulder?" Kristy asked. Henry shook his head in response.

"No, it's just ones and zeros…" Henry replied glumly.

"I could probably understand it; I am a Digimon after all…" Kudamon suggested.

"Yeah, but he'd beat you senseless if you tried…" Henry replied jokily. Kudamon frowned.

"So are you going to help the others fight?" Kristy asked. Henry shook his head, from what he had heard, they seemed to have it relatively under control, and MegaGargomon would be more likely to be a target than a fighting machine in a battle like this. To boot, it looked like Terriermon wasn't going to stop programming any time soon, surprising really since he was the one who normally wanted to fight.

"Are you?" Henry asked the little girl, who shook her head.

"If the battle reaches us, we'll need someone to defend us, and I'm going to be that someone!" Kristy cheered.

"Besides, we have not had any real biomerging experience; we would be as much of a target as MegaGargomon, and this enemy sounds like he likes taking out easy targets" Kudamon explained. Henry nodded.

"Slave, get back in here!" called Terriermon from the computer room. Henry sighed.

"Coming…" he said, Kristy chuckling at their odd relationship.

"Need a maid's outfit?" Kristy asked.

"More like a ball, a chain, a pickaxe and some rocks…" he replied.

"Henry, hurry the hell up and get in here!" Terriermon called once again.

Henry sighed, turning and leaving. "Bye…" Kristy said, a tinge of joking concern for his safety in her voice. She turned to Kudamon.

"Let's see what we can occupy ourselves with…" she said.

"I am not playing tag Kristy…" Kudamon insisted

"Of course not, we're indoors; I understand your objection…" Kristy replied. Kudamon inwardly sighed; Kristy still didn't seem to grasp his objection to the game which appeared to be her favourite.

"So what should we do then?"

"Let's try and help out in the control room…" Kristy suggested. "Besides, we have to stop Yamaki doing anything stupid…"

* * *

**Streets of Tokyo**

**12:45 JST**

Gallantmon and Sakuyamon flew through the skies relatively silently. The occasional explosion resounded from their destination, each eliciting a frown from the pair at the deaths they knew were occurring. A building cascaded away from the skyline as the sound of rubble falling met the occasional scream, overpowering it in the process until silence once again fell.

"This isn't going to be easy…" Gallantmon noted. Sakuyamon nodded, half concentrating on something else.

Rika frowned within her sphere; she had previously not wanted to fight, not wanting to take such a large risk with hers and her child's lives. The sights they were observing were disconcerting her further, as were Gallantmon's words. Takato had managed to convince her to join the battle, probably the only person who could do so in their current situation, but at the same time she had begun to have doubts. But there was no way out of the battle without telling the truth, something she still was not prepared to do. Having Takato by her side reassured her, but they were still facing a largely unknown threat, reports back from the battle being infrequent and vague at best.

Scanning the skies, she noticed another figure heading towards the battle, this one an orange dragon, flying not far from the buildings below him, and flying particularly fast. Sakuyamon and Gallantmon hurried their pace, arriving at the battleground.

They looked below to see a human standing, near the weakened forms of Imperialdramon, WarGreymon, Phoenixmon, Ophanimon, SaberLeomon and Seraphimon. The sight in itself was surprising, a single human taking on six mega level digimon, and this prompted Harmony's concerns. This couldn't be a normal human, so it had to be something far more devastating. The boy looked up to see the new arrivals, a triumphant smirk turning to a frown.

"Oh great, more of them…" Taiki mocked, faking exasperation. "Seriously, give up already…"

"**Who are you?"** Harmony asked.

"Ah…" the boy said, realisation sweeping across his features as his smirk reappeared. "Harmony, how kind of you to join this battle, Chaos too I suppose…"

"Who are you?" Renamon asked, irritation in her voice.

"Taiki Araki…" the boy replied.

"Yeah, but who are you? You're clearly not human…" Takato asked. Taiki smirked.

"Something you do not need to know…"

"But something we already know…" WarGreymon replied.

"You will be dead soon enough, stay down little dragon, or burn in hell before this planet does…"

"He's the First Demon of Destruction…" BlazeDonnermon told the others, landing on the ground.

"Demons?" Takato asked.

Sakuyamon's expression turned to one of alarm as Harmony began to realise something. Taiki smirked.

"Figuring something out, are we?" Taiki asked.

"Huh?" Takato asked.

"**When we…I…created the universe, every action had an equal but opposite reaction…"**

Taiki smirked. "Create Angels, create Demons too…such a mistake, I must add…"

"Shut the hell up…" Rika snapped at him.

"Feisty, aren't we?" Taiki asked.

"You're just a pathetic little boy who thinks that he can blow up the world…"

"Oh, but I can…using Hypnos…"

"Huh?" Davis asked. "How?"

"Destroy Hypnos, the gap is cleared…" Taiki replied. "Launch a destructive blast into the gap between the real and digital worlds, and they cascade in on each other, destroying both together…an elegant solution…"

"But why?" Guilmon asked.

"It's fun, that's why!" Taiki answered, smirking. "Something that Chaos doesn't seem to try, despite his own powers…"

"**If I destroy the world, I destroy the pebbles too, so go to hell you…"**

"Demon?" Taiki asked.

"**Yeah, something like that…"**

"I still don't understand, what do you possibly get from destroying the worlds?" Donmon asked.

"I told you, plain and simple fun, I live on it…"

"How many of you freaks are there?" Rika asked.

"Nine of us…"

Ryder chuckled.

"What was that?" Taiki questioned.

"We've got you outnumbered…" Ryder replied. "There are ten Angels…"

Taiki growled, annoyance in his voice. "Pah, makes no difference, I shall still turn this rock into an inferno merely on my own…" he replied, summoning an energy ball into his hand.

"SPIRIT SPHERE!" Sakuyamon called, Taiki once again growling in annoyance as a blue sphere encroached him.

"Let me out!" he called.

"No…" Rika replied. Taiki stopped punching the side of the sphere and looked across to one side, smiling when he saw something.

"Never mind, I have another way…" he replied, as BlackRyudamon appeared next to the sphere. "Did you complete your task?" he asked.

"No, the black vixen managed to digivolve and they escaped…"

"Hey, I was there, you got beaten!" Donmon insisted.

Taiki frowned; it was a setback, but so long as the rest of the plan worked, it would be unneeded. Why wipe out the Angels one at a time, when you can wipe out everything all at once?

"Are you ready Master?" the digimon asked. Taiki nodded, beginning to glow black as energy flowed out of a grey and red D-Vice on his arm, which Ryder noticed with surprise.

'_No, he couldn't be…could he?'_ he thought, as the light of digivolution enveloped the area.

**BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION**

**BlackRyudamon Biomerge Digivolve to…**

Taiki fell back onto the samurai, as black light enshrouded them and a dragon shape began to form. Samurai-style armour flew onto the form, with an armoured dragon-like head similar to WarGreymon's. Secondary blades crossed on the top of his back, poking out to either side of his head, as a pair of sharp bladed swords materialised in his hands. He proclaimed his title.

…**Gaiomon!**

Sakuyamon felt the bubble burst as the new figure escaped it, stabbing his swords through it. The damage to its surface was effortless, and the dragon flew into the air.

"Now, I must take my leave, I have tasks to attend to…" he declared.

"You're not getting away!" Gallantmon yelled, holding out his spear and tossing it forth. "FINAL JUSTICE!" he called.

Gaiomon slashed at the spear, sending it clanging to the ground before he crossed his swords and raised them to the air, which began to glow black and red above them as a storm began to surge. "GAIA REACTOR!" he yelled, the blast sent forth downwards and colliding with the biomerges.

"SPIRIT SPHERE!" Sakuyamon called, enveloping as much as she could in a protective bubble, but those left outside took the brunt, and they were those already injured.

Tai moaned in pain as he found himself lying on the floor, Koromon landing on him exhausted.

"Sorry Tai…" he apologised.

"Don't worry, we did our best…" he told his pink blob of a partner, before looking across to see Jeri with Elecmon and Sora with Yokomon, themselves lying on the ground. Gaiomon smirked, before flying away before any of them could return the attack, heading towards his next target.

BlazeDonnermon frowned, looking around to see Imperialdramon, Seraphimon, Ophanimon, Sakuyamon and Gallantmon all standing ready to fight. This battle wasn't over.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

The final battle truly begins, and next time we will finally find out what Terriermon's plan is. Please review. 

Next time…

What is Terriermon's plan? Do they have any chance of stopping Gaiomon? Is Rika safe to fight in this battle?

Find out in 'Her Reassurance', Chapter Eleven of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	11. Her Reassurance

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 11**

_Her Reassurance_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**12:55 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

"Finished…"

Henry opened his eyes and sat up from his tired pose, surprised to hear the words from his partner, who now stood triumphantly on the desk.

"What?" Henry asked.

"I finally finished fine-tuning it…it's ready…" Terriermon replied, pointing to the screen, still full of ones and zeros.

"So what exactly does it do?" Henry asked, wheeling across to the desk and looking at the screen, hoping to see some clue, but only seeing the reams of seemingly random ones and zeros.

"It's an elegant, simple solution…"

"You've already said that…"

"Well, first of all, here's my justification."

"Can't you just tell me what it is?"

"No, because you'll just say no straight away."

"This isn't exactly encouraging my initial guesses on what you have planned."

"Let me talk…right, the Digital World previously required on an overlord of some form to manage it, and was basically a chaotic place where death was inevitable, except in some isolated areas."

"Yeah, like the Eastern Region area…mostly…"

"Yeah, so my thoughts were, what are the weaknesses of the old system, under Yggdrasil?"

"Well, to start, that position caused jealousy compared to actual Gods, leading to an aggressive and selfish personality."

"Yeah, and the idea itself creates balance to start with in a mix that would sort that out for itself regardless, since you'd end up with each type defeating the other and regulating their numbers on their own" Terriermon added.

"And I suppose there is a risk of having a central overlord in general that has come true, in that if they are destroyed, there is no replacement."

"Exactly my thoughts, and so I came up with a decentralised solution…"

Henry watched, as Terriermon quickly switched to a word document, with some words on it, Henry's eyes widening as he read it, Terriermon speaking the words simultaneously.

"Give Digimon the power to breed…" Terriermon read, a smile creeping onto his face after he saw Henry's reaction.

* * *

**Shinjuku**

**12:55 JST**

Mari held on tight to Youkomon's mane as they passed the occasional moving traffic on the street, the fox dodging out of the way of the surprised motorists. Thankfully, they themselves were still few and far between, people staying inside where possible. She passed into quieter streets, faintly familiar from occasional trips whilst at the park, but otherwise unknown, thanking DarkRenamon's impressive knowledge acquisition of an area's layout quickly, something she had managed both in New York and Tokyo, and no doubt the Digital World.

Youkomon came to a stop outside a particular building, and Mari frowned to see a 'closed' sign on the door, the words **Matsuki Bakery** appearing to her as plain English on the window. She sighed her frustration away, glancing to Youkomon as a signal to proceed. Youkomon continued on their run, passing through an area of lower rise houses before reading the large expanse of green and brown that was Shinjuku Park, entering through a path that no doubt was all too familiar to the current incarnation of Chaos.

Mari glanced at the time on her D-Vice, frowning when she saw it. It was**12:55**, a time which no doubt signalled the coming of another collapse. They passed the occasional person as they passed along the paths of the park, some not even pausing to glimpse at the sight which would be unusual to residents of anywhere else.

Youkomon followed a path as it curved upwards, the sides rising to match as they approached an all-too familiar location. Youkomon came to a stop, glancing upwards to Mari, who smiled.

"Feels different being here as a Tamer…"

"Why exactly?"

"Not sure…" Mari replied, smiling as she leapt off her partner, landing gracefully on the grass alongside where her partner had come to a standstill. "Are you going to dedigivolve?" she asked.

Youkomon glanced at her, before straining to do something, which Mari soon figured out to be an attempt at dedigivolution. Youkomon then gave up, and shook her head sadly.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough, most of the Tamer's digimon had similar problems at first…" Mari reassured.

"How did they solve them?"

"Hmm…I don't think you could stand on your head, and most of the other ideas didn't work. Maybe we can just exercise it off?"

"Climb on then…"

Mari shook her head. "We'll do that later, if you don't mind?" Youkomon shook her head. "Besides, you were so cool back there…"

"Thank you…"

Mari sat on the sloped grass, and looked across to her partner, looking curiously at her own legs and feet.

"Can you sit down at all or…?" Mari asked. Youkomon smiled.

"Bear with me…" she replied, Mari chuckling at her predicament.

"Try putting your tails down and then kinda…falling over…" Mari suggested, unsure exactly whether her plan would work. She smiled as Youkomon attempted it, and was successful, albeit needing to curl up slightly in order to face Mari, the fox smiling whilst blushing in embarrassment.

"Thank you…"

"Yeah, speaking of that…I think we've both helped each other out an equal number of times so…can we drop all this 'debt of gratitude' stuff?" Mari asked.

"But I feel that I should help you because you helped me…"

"Yeah, but we do that because we're partners, not because we've each saved each others lives…" Mari replied.

Youkomon nodded, as Mari looked over her form.

"So how does it feel to be digivolved?" she asked.

"It feels different, yet familiar…I knew straight away how to control myself, despite the fact I've never held this form before…"

"I guess that explains how after biomerging, they seem to be able to fight well straight away, albeit with the occasional mishap…"

Youkomon nodded. "I cannot wait until we biomerge, it'll be so…strange I guess…"

"Yeah, but we've got your ultimate form to go through first…"

"Takes a bit of fun out of it already to know what I'll look like though…" Youkomon joked. Mari nodded, something bugging her as she agitatedly brought up the subject.

"Youkomon, when I took your data out of ReverseGinRyumon…it went around me…it felt so amazing, warm, comforting…"

"I felt a strange feeling like that before I was restored…"

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere, I just…felt it…like my soul was kept in stasis…"

"Yeah…well the feeling…it felt like…like I could make us biomerge together, it was so close I felt I could touch it…"

"What stopped you?"

"Fear…a fear that I could lose you if I went too fast…fear that forcing it would make something awful happen due to my anger, like, god forbid, Kitsunemon, from what I heard of her from Rika…" Mari replied, true fear and concern in her voice.

"I understand completely…Kitsunemon was horrific…don't worry about it, I would've made the same decision…"

Mari smiled and nodded. "Thanks…" she told her partner uneasily, the events of the day still amazing her and yet confusing her at the same time. It had enthralled her to have these powers, but she now held a deep rooted concern about them simultaneously.

"Earlier on…I recall that a burst of fire erupted from the building and took out the energy ball…" Youkomon reminisced. "At the time I attributed it to a coincidence, but did you cause it?" she asked.

Mari nodded. "I think so…my hands felt warm all of a sudden, it was strange, but I just ignored it…"

"Do you remember things about the Angels now?" the fox asked, and Mari nodded.

"I can feel…I can feel signals…not sure where from, but I can feel nine signals…one of them is strong, that must be Ryder…the others are all around medium strength, except for one, that's really faint…"

"Interesting…"

"Discounting me…they must be the ten angels…but, why is one of them weak? Is that Rey? I haven't seen her around recently, so who is it?"

"I am unsure, but if it is Rey, then she must have a strange signal for some reason…"

"She's sixteen right? We figured out that she would be born either now, or soon…maybe she's already in someone's womb…"

"Rika perhaps?"

Mari chuckled. "Yeah right, Rika's sixteen Youkomon, it's extremely unlikely she would be pregnant at her age…"

Youkomon nodded, something still bugging her hanging in her mind from what Mari had said. "But if she was, then it would explain everything…"

Mari nodded. "I suppose…but we could hardly ask, could we? How do you start that conversation after all? Oh, do you think that you're pregnant?"

Youkomon nodded, chuckling at Mari's interpretation of the problem. "Yeah, well illustrated point…"

"We'll just wait and see, okay?" Mari asked.

"Of course…" Youkomon replied.

"That reminds me; however, of something Ryder once said…he joked about the concept of a being with the powers of Chaos and Harmony together…"

"_**But, I mean, could you imagine it? A direct descendant of Chaos and Harmony, with the powers of both? They could tear a hole in the universe, take over a planet…they'd have all of the powers and none of the disadvantages that come with only having one side of them…"**_

"He said that they would have the advantages, but none of the disadvantages, so if Rey really is the child of Takato and Rika then…" Mari ran through the idea, eyes widening as it came to bear. "She'd be incredibly powerful…and that would explain the DNA situation…"

"But it still needs to be asked, how do we ask Rika?"

"Yeah, she might think that we were insane…"

"Or that we are very deductive…"

"Hmm, the gains of finding out the truth aren't really worth the risks of if our ideas were false, are they?" Mari replied, frowning. Youkomon shook her head.

"We will have to simply wait and see what happens…" she replied, Mari nodding in response, and glancing to her D-Vice. She expanded it to its full mode, and began to ponder something.

"Hey, something odd is definitely going on here…" she said to Youkomon, who cocked her head in curiosity.

"What exactly?"

"Well, Rika and Takato now have D-Vices as well, as does Rey, but…" Mari pondered, putting her ideas together. "Ryder is from another universe…" she added.

"You're pondering whether the D-Vice is from our universe or his, aren't you?" the fox asked, Mari nodding in response.

"Yeah, I mean…speaking of that, a lot of things about Ryder don't make sense…" Mari continued her train of thought.

"Such as?"

"He told us that Dimensions was the TV series depicting the Tamers lives from the end of the D-Reaper to the cataclysm, but he never said about any of those fanfic things that featured them at all."

"Hmm…"

"And sometimes, I see him look at people…the look is one of awe, of amazement, almost surprised that we exist…"

"That is not surprising…he thought we were a TV show…"

"But…it's more than that…he knows things deeper than any TV show ever runs to…in twenty minutes of storytelling, I've never seen any TV series that could go that deep…"

"So what are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that there is more to him than meets the eye…"

"Hmm…perhaps…"

"The question is, what do I do?"

"Yeah…he'd probably see it as rude, intruding even…"

"I thought we told each other everything as a couple…what could be so dark and deep that he wouldn't tell even me?"

"Presumably something major…maybe to protect you from the truth?"

"I'd rather know the truth and have only one thing that I have to worry about than not know and have to consider all the possible worries that it could be…"

"Mari, do not answer if you don't want to, but…how much has he actually told you about his world?"

"Well…he said that it was just like this world…and that he was part of a team of five Tamers, one of whom he had a crush on…"

"And her name?"

Mari shook her head. "He's never said that, nor for that matter anyone's name from his world besides Merukimon and Arkadimon…"

Mari began to frown and looked to the ground after saying the last name, making Youkomon concerned. "Mari, are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just…maybe I should cut him some slack about his world…I couldn't contemplate the concept of being stranded on a completely different world, not even existing…and knowing that everyone in your own world could be being slaughtered all the meanwhile…it's just…I'm afraid of what he'd choose if he had a chance to go home…"

"I understand, and I am sure he would too…you have become so close so quickly that you have both become virtually dependant on each other for emotional support…"

"And that's what worries me…" Mari said, looking up with a single tear crawling down her face. "What happens if we lose each other, and the support collapses?"

Youkomon frowned, moving closer to her partner and comforting her with her tails, wiping away any tears.

"Thanks…" Mari said emotionally, beginning to lean on the tails. "Can I rest on them?" she asked.

"Sure…just…stop pulling on them so hard…" the fox replied, breathing a sigh of relief once Mari moved slightly. "Thanks…" she added.

* * *

**Streets of Tokyo**

**12:55 JST**

Gaiomon laughed manically as he floated above his next target, the 49th building in the line, the 10th building that he had to destroy. The towers of Hypnos were to be the 13th target, in a brilliant plan that sped up all the way from 30 minute intervals to 5 minute ones, increasing the fear and pressure on his foe. The destruction of their confidence, always led to their losses, since they were distracted by fear. He was disgusted by the fear of his fellow humans, and his display of it previously when he had been trapped by Sakuyamon's sphere.

Gaiomon's hands glowed. "GAIA REACTOR!" he roared, the storm disintegrating the building where it stood, with no survivors. He had no interest in torturing the majority of human prey, those not connected to the Tamers or Angels, their destruction was his aim, and torturing them was simply timewasting. He also stopped short at torturing the Angels and Tamers if it would prevent him from completing his tasks.

He glanced to one side, seeing Imperialdramon, Seraphimon, Ophanimon, BlazeDonnermon, Gallantmon and Sakuyamon approaching him. He smirked, to any unknowledgeable observer he would look like he was outnumbered by far, and was about to fight a losing battle, but he knew better than that.

"POSITRON LASER!" Imperialdramon roared, his cannon firing a large blast of energy at the comparatively small mega. Gaiomon slashed through the blast with his swords, before preparing his next attack.

"EDEN'S JAVELIN!" Ophanimon yelled, a zap of energy shooting forth from her aforementioned weapon and colliding with an unprepared Gaiomon, who screamed in pain. The blast subsided, and he gritted his teeth, raising his swords quickly.

"RINKAZAN!" he called, pointing his twin swords at the angel. A pair of beams of white light zigzagged randomly on their way, before colliding with an unprepared Ophanimon, who shrieked in pain as she felt the blast cut at her data, before she began to fall, splitting back into Kari and Gatomon.

"Kari!" TK and Davis yelled, as Sakuyamon quickly flew to grab the falling pair, concerned for the injuries that would've resulted from the fall, although noting afterwards in her mind that Kari had survived a higher fall before without significant injury, a miracle explained only in Rika's eyes by the fact that Kari must've been an Angel, just not awakened yet. She set the pair down on the floor, nodding at their thanks.

Gallantmon watched her, himself concerned for the pairs' safety, before turning back to Gaiomon. "What kind of Digimon is this guy?" he asked, raising his D-Vice within his orb, and moaning in frustration when no data appeared. _'Hmm…this is the first time I've biomerged since we all biomerged together to make Goddramon…feels lonely now…'_ he thought, waiting for something. "Here we go…" he said gladly as the data appeared, before reading it. "Gaiomon, Virus Type, Mega Level, attacks Gaia Reactor, Rinkazan and Rinkageki" he read, before turning to glance at Sakuyamon. "Rika, be careful, he's a virus type and you're a data type…"

Sakuyamon glanced to him, first prepared to give an insult, before deciding to say nothing at all after Harmony's words. **'He does care for you…'**

"Thanks Takato…" Rika replied, raising her staff.

"Thanks for the tip off!" Gaiomon mocked, lifting his sword. "RINKAZAN!" he yelled, the lightning streaking towards the yellow fox-like shaman, Rika and Renamon screaming and falling to the ground as it hit.

"Hey!" Takato complained, looking with hatred towards the WarGreymon-like figure.

Rika stood up, feeling slightly woozy all of a suddenly. She felt Renamon grab her, but her partner's grip was similarly weak.

"Are you okay?" Renamon asked. Rika nodded, feeling her senses restoring. The blast had thrown them out of their mega form, but seemed to only have drained their energy, rather than causing physical damage.

"Yeah…stupid Gogglehead…" she muttered.

"Sorry…" Takato apologised nervously.

"All's fair in love and war…" Gaiomon commented, raising his swords again and facing the Shaman lying on the ground below. "I shall carry out the later…RINKAGEKI!" he yelled, an arrow of light streaking out of the blades as the others looked on in shock.

Rika looked up to see the arrow flying towards them at speed, Renamon following her gaze and similarly paralysed in shock.

'_No…'_ Rika thought sadly, realising that what her greatest fear for that battle was being realised.

'**Rika, move!'** Harmony screamed, but to no use, Rika couldn't move her arms or legs, until she raised her right arm to cover her eyes as a blur crossed her vision.

Gallantmon crashed to the ground nearby, arrow in him as he phased back to his component forms, Takato and Guilmon groaning in pain as the goggle-headed boy slowly opened his eyes. Rika quickly ran over to him, Renamon following to check her own lover.

"Are you okay?" Takato asked, his voice woozy from the hit he had taken as well.

"I should ask the same about you…" Rika replied. "Thanks for that, by the way…" she told him.

"No problem, I'd do anything for you…" he replied, pulling her into an embrace.

"Oh, so heart-warming…" Gaiomon mocked.

'_With all this self-doubt and concern about things, I forgot the one thing that brought me and Takato together in the first place…he cares about me and will stand by me in anything that happens…'_

Rika looked into his eyes, smiling.

'_I'm going to tell him…now probably isn't the time…" _she thought, as TK and Patamon fell to the ground weakly.

"More sleep now TK…" Patamon muttered, exhausted.

"Rika, shouldn't we get out of here?" Takato asked. "They're falling like flies…"

Rika looked up to see Imperialdramon and BlazeDonnermon, the only ones still remaining in the sky surrounding Gaiomon. Gaiomon swiftly moved past them, to another building several blocks away.

Checking that no-one was in earshot, she stepped closer to him. "We'll have to be ready to dual biomerge if there's nothing left…" she said to him, reluctance in her voice. She felt weak enough from her energy drain from biomerging, and Goddramon wasn't something easy in the slightest, plus there was the fact that everyone would find out their secret. He nodded reluctantly.

"GAIA RACTOR!" he roared, the building turning merely to dust that fell to the ground, caking the now flat block and streets surrounding it.

"What the…" Imperialdramon began.

"You still here?" Gaiomon asked, raising his swords. "Not any longer…RINKAZAN!"

Imperialdramon screamed as the lightning-like blast collided with him, the electricity-like energy flowing over his form as Davis and Veemon screamed, before the pair collapsed to the ground, their biomerge cancelled.

"We're just standing around, waiting to be hit!" TK warned.

"But we can't kill him, what do we do?" Kari asked.

"We can subdue him…" TK suggested. "And just hope it works…"

"Go BlazeDonnermon, you're our only hope!" Davis cheered, looking upwards to the one remaining biomerge on their side, the bipedal dragon who currently glared at Gaiomon where he floated.

"Yeah, go BlazeDonnermon!" Veemon called.

"I see that you have plenty of support…" Gaiomon commented to the other dragon. "Shame that this is not a popularity contest…"

"_This isn't going to be easy…"_ Ryder said to his partner.

"_Yeah…"_ came the reply.

"By the way, do not expect this battle to divert me from the task at hand…" Gaiomon replied, before flying to one side and heading towards the next building. "GAIA REACTOR!" he roared, evaporating the building as BlazeDonnermon swiftly followed.

'_This is it…' _Ryder thought, as he prepared to battle with the samurai.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so, we're set up for our conclusion. There is likely to be two more chapters left, along with either an Extra Dimensions story or an epilogue-style series of chapters dealing with the consequences of this day.

Next time…

What will Takato do when he finally finds out? Will BlazeDonnermon be able to defeat Gaiomon? How will Henry react to Terriermon's plan?

Find out in 'His Battle', Chapter Twelve of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	12. His Battle

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 12**

_His Battle_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Hypnos, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building**

**12:59 JST**

**3****rd**** July 2010**

"You can't be serious?" Henry asked, as it dawned on him what Terriermon was proposing.

"Huh? Why not?" Terriermon asked.

"Your solution to the problem is to give Digimon the ability to breed…"

"It's based on the real life methods of evolution that have resulted in intelligent life forms, stopping short at Kazu and Kenta though…it'll make Digimon survive and flourish, and it'll probably stop half of the fighting in the process…"

"How does it work?" Henry asked, stumped by what Terriermon's plan was.

"A pulse of data would be swept across the real and digital planes, downloading the program to each Digimon it encounters in a matter of seconds…"

"So, it's like, Digimon V2?"

Terriermon scrolled down the page, to where those words were already displayed. "Hey, stop stealing my lines!" he complained.

Henry chuckled. "Great minds think alike, isn't that what you say?"

"Yeah…I suppose…"

"This feels like playing God…"

"Not really, it's just assigning the most suitable gender to each of the multitude of Digimon out there; it's a very intelligent program…"

"So that explains the length of the code?"

"Yeah, took me hours and days to make."

"So Digimon really don't have genders then?" Terriermon shook his head in response. "So Renamon was actually telling the truth…I didn't believe Rika when she told me…"

"Trust your dad and his pals to forget such a basic thing…"

"When he first created the Digimon, you were just small amounts of data, nothing compared to what you've become."

"And yet Yggdrasil has held us back…"

"But I thought Digimon already had the emotions for love? I mean, look at Guilmon and Renamon…"

"The emotions seem to be learnt from their partners…I mean, look at me, I'm smart because you're smart…"

"Smart and a smart-alec…"

"Naturally…"

"The thing that surprises me the most, and disturbs me the most Terriermon, is that you must have spent countless hours on Wikipedia researching these things…"

"Yeah, that and medical websites…I think I got the gist of all their jargon…anyway, what's your point?" Terriermon asked, genuinely not understanding what Henry was getting at.

"I don't think this is such a good idea. I mean, how will they react? And how do you know it even works?"

"I don't know whether it'll work, and they shouldn't even notice, that's how the program is built…"

"We should talk to my Dad…"

"No, he'll just say no…"

"Exactly, he'll put a different viewpoint on things…"

Terriermon frowned. "Henry, I did some calculations, the Digital World is already going into meltdown, and there's a point past which even this system will stop working…" he warned.

"Which is?"

"It's today Henry…"

"What?"

"We've got to make a decision quickly…"

"How quickly?"

"A few hours…"

Henry sighed, sitting back in his chair. The concept of letting the Digital World whither away and die was awful, but at the same time, he was perturbed by Terriermon's plan. It felt like a mistake, like it'd have unintended consequences that they would not want. Plans like this had a habit of coming back around to wreak revenge on their creators, the Digimon themselves and the D-Reaper incident 20 years after their creation was a perfect example of this.

Terriermon looked expectantly into his partner's eyes. "Can you trust me?" he asked. "Or do you think I'm just joking around?" he added.

"Huh?" Henry asked, surprised at the question.

"I may act like a clown sometimes, but I'm smarter than you think Henry…"

"I know, you've outsmarted me plenty of times in the past"

"So why don't you trust me now?"

"It just seems…wrong…"

"Does that make any difference?"

"We should at least ask Harmony and Chaos first about this…"

"When exactly? Last time I checked, they were out getting their asses whooped by Taiki out there…"

"You said that we have a few more hours to make this decision…"

"Yeah, about seven hours before the number becomes too low. There have to be enough pairs for it to start recovering again before it reaches zero…"

Henry sighed, as he began to hear the fire alarm resounded through the building. Kristy arrived at the door, Kudamon on her shoulder, as the pounding of feet began.

"Henry, Gaiomon's going to get to us soon, Yamaki called the evacuation…" she said.

"Okay…" Henry replied, realising that they didn't have any time to move. He turned to his partner. "What do you need to activate the program?"

"A computer with internet access, and this disk…" he replied, ejecting the disk from the drive and holding it up.

"Really? That's all?" Henry asked, surprised that such a complicated procedure could be done with such limited resources.

Terriermon nodding, before sighing. "Okay, I'll admit it, I have to use Hypnos' transmitters as well, but I hacked into their system and found out the passwords and everything…so I can activate it from anywhere using the internet!" he cheered.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"Think of the bigger picture Henry!" the dog-bunny cheered. "The power to give life back to the Digital World, without any stupid egg timers messing it all up!"

"There's a flaw in this plan, isn't there?" Henry asked.

"Nope, nothing, two digimon, one male, one female, and you get a digi-egg…"

Henry cocked an eyebrow. "A digi-egg?"

"Yeah, eggs. That's how it works for humans, isn't it?" Terriermon asked, naivety on his features.

"Um…yeah…" Henry replied, knowing that it was by now far too late to change anything, and it'd probably complicate matters far too much anyway. His partner clearly had mixed up a few things, and he quietly hoped that that was the full extent of it.

Henry put the CD back in its jewel casing, as Terriermon leapt onto his head. "Let's get out of here!" he cheered, pointing to the door as Henry began to sprint. He glanced to see Kristy and Kudamon waiting for them by the emergency stairs, employees racing down them as the evacuation of thousands of people from the building began.

"We haven't got that long…" Kristy told him.

"Let's get moving then…" Kudamon added, ditching politeness for desperation as they headed down the stairs.

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**13:06 JST**

The sounds of explosions began to echo through the area, disrupting the peace which had descended on the park. Mari opened her eyes from her peaceful rest and sat up, the sounds of tranquillity she was listening to now disrupted. Youkomon stood back onto her four legs, and looked to a gap in the high-rise buildings nearby, Mari following her gaze soon afterwards.

"Huh?" she pondered, climbing to her feet and looking at the two figures now clashing in the skies above Shinjuku. She glanced at her D-Vice for the time, **13:07**.

"That appears to be BlazeDonnermon fighting an unknown Digimon…" Youkomon commented, her green eyes focusing on the battle. Mari nodded distractedly, before she glanced once again to her D-Vice, pausing only to tap its screen and bring up the information. She frowned when nothing appeared at first.

"I've got no data on him…" she said to her partner.

Youkomon nodded. "Some Digimon are rarer than others, they take longer to look up from what I have heard and seen…"

"And here I was thinking that this thing was high-tech…" Mari joked, although it was a frustrated joke. She breathed a sigh of relief when the data finally appeared. "Here we go, Gaiomon, Virus Type, Mega Level, attacks Gaia Reactor, Rinkazan and Rinkageki…"

"Do you wish to observe the battle from here or from closer up?" Youkomon asked.

"Personally, I want to fight in it, but I know that's not going to happen…" Mari replied. "But…I want to be there for Ryder…to help him in my own way, you know…" she added.

Youkomon nodded, understanding her Tamer's wishes. There was a slim chance that they could help, but it was a chance nevertheless. The risk was unlikely to be major so long as they kept to a safe distance, and Mari disregarded the risk anyway, so Youkomon had to follow her in that, as she felt her partner grab onto her fur and pull herself up to rest on her back. Mari put her leg over Youkomon's back and gripped onto her mane, glancing forward. "Are you ready?" Youkomon asked.

Mari nodded, smiling. "Yeah, let's get moving…" she replied.

* * *

**Skies of Shinjuku**

**13:07 JST**

BlazeDonnermon touched down onto a building, avoiding a blast of energy that flew over his head as he did so. He looked back to the sky, seeing Gaiomon glaring at him with swords drawn, ready to continue his assault. BlazeDonnermon felt weakened from the attacks, but at the same time, adrenaline coursed across him, urging him to keep fighting. He glanced to the road adjacent to the building, to the multitude of Tamers and the remaining populace watching. It surprised him to see that anyone remained who hadn't fled the area yet at all, expecting that they would've left at the first opportunity, like in plenty of movies and TV series.

BlazeDonnermon shook his head, getting his mind back on the subject, with good timing as he dodged to the side of an arrow of light.

"_Ryder, we've got to keep away and use long range attacks…"_ Donmon advised.

"_Yeah, but he specialises in those as well…"_ Ryder replied, noting the nature of his enemies' attacks.

"_Up close though, he'll use his swords. We may have sharp claws, but they're no contender."_ Donmon warned.

"_I know who my money would be on…"_ Ryder replied jokily, as BlazeDonnermon flew into the sky, wings glowing white as he did so, and at the same time, fire summoned into his mouth. Gaiomon looked up, before flying in a different direction.

"_What's he doing?" _Donmon asked.

"_Not sure, let's follow…"_ Ryder replied, as BlazeDonnermon changed his course, still charging his attack. Gaiomon stopped all of a sudden, and BlazeDonnermon took his chance to use his power.

"ANGEL INFERNO!" he roared, the sweeping of his wings forward combining the holy energy with the flames. The blast swept forward, as Gaiomon leapt aside at the last moment, leaving BlazeDonnermon to look on in horror as the blast collided with the building.

"I didn't know you were trying to assist me…" Gaiomon replied, smirking. "Thank you regardless…" he replied, raising his hands as they began to glow.

"_Attack now!"_ Donmon yelled, as BlazeDonnermon flew forward at high speed towards Gaiomon, whose back was turned and was seemingly distracted by the energy charging, since he didn't turn.

"SWEPT…" BlazeDonnermon began, preparing to slash his claws.

Ryder and Donmon screamed in pain as a sword collided with their side, throwing BlazeDonnermon onto the building in the process. His form rolled over across the rooftop, as Gaiomon smirked.

"GAIA REACTOR!" he roared, the blast from the sky released to collide with the structure, and BlazeDonnermon at the same time. Gaiomon smirked at the screams that followed as the building disintegrated and BlazeDonnermon plummeted to hit the solid concrete that was all that remained below, sweeping dust into the air as he landed.

Watching from not far away, the Tamers looked on in horror as Gaiomon began to laugh manically.

"**Boy, that's got to hurt…"**

"We have to help him!" Jeri said, beginning to run forward, before being stopped by Tai.

"You can't, you'll get yourself killed out there…" Tai warned, his voice exhausted.

"I can't stand by and watch someone get hurt like this!" Jeri replied.

"I know…" Kari reassured. "But none of us, Ryder least of all, want anyone else hurt or killed in the process of helping them, it isn't worth it…"

Jeri frowned, stopping sadly. "So what can we do?"

"RINKAZEN!" Gaiomon roared, pointing his blade downwards and hitting BlazeDonnermon with a bolt of energy as he prepared to stand. Ryder and Donmon screamed in pain, as Gaiomon chuckled.

"Leave him alone!" yelled a voice, and BlazeDonnermon looked to one side to see a defiant Mari, sitting on Youkomon's back as they stood in the middle of the adjacent road, fists clenched in anger as she glared up at the samurai-like dragon in the sky above, floating near where the top of the building once stood.

Gaiomon began to laugh evilly, looking down at the girl with her champion level partner who dared to challenge a powerful mega. "Or what?" he replied. "You'll hit me with your puny fires?" he taunted.

"No…" Mari replied, as Gaiomon continued to laugh. "I wouldn't see what's so funny, the Second Angel of Control is hardly a useless power…" she replied, determination in her voice.

"The Angels are pathetic compared to the Demons; you have to care about saving people and never get any fun…" Taiki replied.

"Oh, but I do get fun…" Mari replied, raising her glowing hand. "Coincidences are very fun…SYNCRONICITY!" she yelled, the dust from the collapsed building suddenly being whipped up by an incredibly fast wind into a tornado which enveloped the samurai, who roared in pain as it ripped at his armour. The wind also brought BlazeDonnermon to his feet, allowing him to stare on in amazement at what was happening. He looked to Mari, speechless.

"Ryder, you're an Angel, use it!" she told him.

BlazeDonnermon nodded, as his wings tapered back, the dust storm beginning to die down as the nearby buildings became caked in it, turning their sides a dull yellow as Gaiomon began to growl. BlazeDonnermon leapt into the air, flying straight up.

"Good luck!" Mari wished, Youkomon nodding to give the same sentiment.

"SWEPT SLASH!" BlazeDonnermon yelled, slashing at Gaiomon's legs and knocking him to one side. Gaiomon growled, looking back at the other dragon, who moved straight into preparing another attack, his hands glowing. Gaiomon raised his sword, he wasn't about to be hit again.

"RINKAZEN!" he roared, the bolt of lightning-like energy beginning to streak towards BlazeDonnermon, who turned round and smirked.

"RETCON!" he called, his hands stopping glowing as the lightning curved around and struck its user, who screamed in pain.

"_Wow, that was easy…" _Ryder said to his partner, noticing the others staring on in amazement nearby at what he had done.

Gaiomon growled as the initial pain subsided, turning back to his foe. "How did you do that?!" he asked.

"Random attacks like that which change so often are very easily affected by probability, because their course is constantly being re-determined…" Ryder explained.

Gaiomon growled again, Taiki's voice in anger. "Cheap trick…" he replied.

Ryder laughed once sarcastically. "Yeah, and like your moves aren't…" he replied.

Gaiomon lifted his hands, which glowed. "Time to go down like the rest of your petty clan…" he taunted, as a storm cloud was raised above him. BlazeDonnermon flew aside, before lifting his hands, which glowed.

"While we're starting a storm, why don't we make it a FIRESTORM!" he yelled, as flames burst from his hands and flew down through the storm cloud, which exploded, ripping through the air and quaking windows and roads below. Mari grabbed tight onto Youkomon, as Gaiomon growled, lifting his swords again.

"RINKAGEKI!" he called, firing an arrow of light at BlazeDonnermon, who screamed in pain from the quick move, but felt at the same time that something was wrong.

"_That was far too weak compared to what he's used before…"_ Ryder said to his partner.

"_Yeah, I think he's up to…"_

"GAIA REACTOR!" roared the dragon, interrupting Donmon as the Hypnos towers were at the top cloaked in the storm.

"Holy…" Terriermon began to curse, as they ran from the building.

"It's too late!" Jeri panicked, fearful for those yet to escape, along with the building itself and Taiki's plan that would follow.

BlazeDonnermon threw all of his energy into one attack, feeling his wings weaken as he did so. "BLAZE BLASTER!" he called, the fireballs firing from his cannons at high speed and concentration. The blasts collided with Gaiomon, who burst suddenly, data seeping away as an orb containing Taiki hit the ground and vanished.

"_No…way…that fanfic was right, that was almost completely identical to when Takato lost Guilmon…"_ Ryder thought, alarmed.

"_We have to land!" _Donmon insisted. Ryder nodded within his orb, and landed near Taiki and Mari, as a collective breath of relief ran through the air, tinged with alarm at the fact that Taiki had lost his partner.

Taiki's form lay flat on the ground, as BlazeDonnermon landed and split into Ryder and Donmon.

"Ryder, you did it!" Mari cheered, walking over to him. Ryder seemed to ignore her, as he determinedly walked over to Taiki, who was beginning to sit up weakly. The other Tamers approached, eager to see the results of the battle.

Ryder held Taiki's palms together behind his back with one hand as the black haired boy stood up, angered.

"Don't move!" Ryder threatened. "Create an energy ball, you destroy both of your hands, so don't dare try anything!" he insisted.

Taiki growled at his captor angrily. Ryder turned to Mari.

"Mari, gun!" he barked, Mari looking confused as Ryder held out his other hand.

"What?" Mari asked.

"Pass it!" he ordered. Mari realised what he meant, and unsurely pulled the gun from the holster on her leg. She tossed it to Ryder, who grabbed it and clicked the safety off, cocking the gun and placing it to Taiki's back.

"Consider yourself under arrest for genocide…" he told the Demon, his voice angered and determined. Taiki glanced behind him, and began to laugh. "What is so funny?!" Ryder snapped.

"No prison in the world could hold me…" he chuckled.

The other Tamers had arrived by now, including Henry and Kristy, plus their partners, and currently stared on in shock at what was going on.

"Imagine it…all those kills…all those deaths…" Taiki replied, laughing insanely at the concept.

Ryder pushed the gun into Taiki's back threateningly at what he had said.

"Don't pretend you will actually fire that thing, you're far too much of a wuss…" Taiki mocked.

"Ryder, what are you doing?" Jeri asked. Ryder ignored her, looking on at Taiki determined, his eyes narrowed.

"I will fire!" he said.

"But what will you do? Arrest me? Imagine a jail blown to pieces…all those deaths…all those deaths on your hands because you aren't brave enough to…"

The gun fired, and Taiki looked on in horror as he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"Congratulations, you've got guts…" the Demon said through clenched teeth, before his body collapsed to the ground. Ryder's eyes widened at what he had done, as he dropped the gun and dropped to his knees.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn't, no tears ran down his face. He felt weak.

What had he done?

He felt arms grip him gently, familiar arms. Random shapes filled his vision, as he felt his consciousness fade.

"Ryder!" he heard a fearful Mari call through the blackness…

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so a dramatic end to the action part of the story. There's still one chapter left in the actual story, and then there is an epilogue style series of chapters.

Right, as for the whole update situation, since I've ended up with a backlog of chapters for Dimensions, only publishing one a day even though at one point I was writing two, I've been able to concentrate on Deviations with my spare time.

However, since the recent 12500 word Deviations chapter has taken two days to write on its own (longest chapter ever), expect a bit of a slower upload rate for both fics after this chapter of Dimensions (although Chapter 14 doesn't need much more to finish, after which I'll be able to put up Chapter 13). I'll try to get another chapter of this done by Sunday, but don't hold your hopes up.

Next time…

How will Ryder deal with what he has done? How will Takato react when Rika tells him? Will Henry and Terriermon be able to use their program?

Find out in 'Their Demons', Chapter Thirteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	13. Their Demons

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 13**

_Their Demons_

* * *

**In life, we all end up playing God in the end to deal with our Demons, be they physical or metaphorical, real or completely imaginary. The mind plays tricks, and it can affect others in the process.**

**We all defeat our Demons in different ways.**

**Some give life…**

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**18:52 JST**

**3rd July 2010**

Henry sat at Mari's laptop, Terriermon on his head instructing him how to open the file. Takato and Rika stood eagerly behind him, and, spread around the apartment were Kari, Davis, TK, Tai, Sora, Kristy and Jeri, finding seats where possible as they waited for anything to happen. There would normally be enough proper seating for all of them, but at present one of the sofas was taken up by Mari and Ryder. Ryder's sleeping head lay on Mari's lap, as she calmly ran her hands through his hair, sorrow in her face as she recalled the events of the past few hours.

Ryder had passed out from the shock, and, on the medical advice of the only one they could really trust in their current situation, Joe, he was taken back to the apartment, still unconscious, a state he had yet to wake from. The rest of the group that had witnessed the events had followed them back to the apartment, Joe leaving to return to his university after ensuring that Ryder was okay. Yamaki and Hypnos were currently dealing with the authorities.

Mari frowned, recalling what Ryder had done. The group had mixed feelings about it; some believed that it prevented far more deaths in the process, while others believed that it was still murder all the same. She had considered disposing of the gun there and then, but she had decided against it, on the risk that someone else could obtain it and use it for ill reasons, and on the risk that they would need it again, a fact that still worried her. Personally, Mari was divided, she knew it was murdered, but she at the same time felt it was justified.

One thing had become clear; their lives were no longer going to be simple. If these Demons were human, they had to face the fact that there would in all eventuality be more deaths.

MiniDonmon sat on the back of the sofa, looking down sorrowfully at his partner, and occasionally vehemently arguing his case in his absence. Of all those objected to it, Kari and Jeri had been the most vocal, although Elecmon disagreed with Jeri on it, despite his own experience with death. DarkRenamon also seemed to want it justified, feelings of revenge prompting her emotions. Mari herself had stayed silent, not wanting to be involved in the bickering. Kristy seemed to just simply be surprised, but also seemed to think that it was justified, hopeful that more deaths were prevented. Mari noted the fact that this was related to her Angel virtue, Hope. Speaking of Hope, TK also believed that it was justified, based on getting revenge for what had been done, a feeling that had gotten him worked up before the others calmed him down. Having seen deaths caused by holding back on punishment in the past, TK was particularly annoyed about all the criticism Ryder had received.

Davis, Sora and Tai had settled down to the fact that, while it was a horrible act that Ryder had done, it was also justified to prevent further deaths. This problem looked set to divide them, and it would be likely to continue as soon as the next Demon appeared.

"DarkRenamon…" Mari said, attracting the attention of her partner. "I'd just like to say that this is one of the best days of my life, because of you, even if the rest of it was pretty awful."

DarkRenamon nodded. "Being nearly killed yourself, having your partner-to-be killed and then having your boyfriend kill someone does not exactly make a good day, does it?" she replied.

Mari smiled and nodded, her first smile in a few hours. "Yeah, but I got a partner…and a purpose…and I learnt that I'm an Angel…"

"So, do you feel any different or something?" Davis asked. Mari shrugged.

"Not really, I mean, I feel like I know a lot more, and that I can use a power now, but other than that, no…"

"Ryder once mentioned he can feel the other Angels, can you do that?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, but I can't feel where they are…" Mari closed her eyes, looking almost as if she was listening out for something. "I can feel…ten signals? I can't sense my own though…Ryder's is strong…and then there is another strong one, and a very weak one, the same signal…and then there are a lot of other ones that are just normal…" she said.

"That's strange…" Rika noted. "It's also strange that I can't feel that, if I created all of you…"

"Yeah…and ten signals but not including yours…that is particularly odd…" Henry noted, as Terriermon worked away on the computer.

"But there are only ten Angels, how does that work?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah, and earlier I could only feel ten…" Mari replied, before looking around the room. "Rey, I know that you're in here…" she called, noticing a door slightly open. The door opened, and Rey stepped out.

"Very deductive…" she replied, before walking over to Mari, Rejimon still on her shoulder as always. She leaned on the sofa, as the others watched her, still in amazement that she just managed to appear like that.

"Rey!" Kristy cheered.

"It's good to see you…" Tai noted. Rey looked around.

"Wow, you're all here?" she asked.

"Yeah, Ryder fainted…" Kari replied.

"I know…is he okay?" Rey asked, looking to Mari.

Mari nodded, glancing to him. "He's just unconscious…I'm hoping he'll be okay when he comes to…"

"He really gets the bad end of the deals, doesn't he?" Rejimon noted, her voice feeble. Rey nodded.

"You said it…thrown out of his own universe, forced to kill someone, hit by so many attacks and trauma about Mari's safety…not to mention all the other stuff…" she replied. "And good for being brave and speaking in public, by the way…"

"No problem…" Rejimon replied. "I won't be doing it again…"

"Rey, I have a bone to pick with you…" Rika insisted.

"Huh?" Rey asked, turning around to meet Rika's glare. "Oh…that…" she replied, realising.

"Yeah, what the hell were you thinking of when you did that?!" Rika asked.

"Um…" Rey replied, thinking of an excuse.

"What are they talking about?" Jeri asked.

Renamon smiled, knowing the truth, but saying nothing.

"Rika, what are you talking about?" Takato asked curiously. Rika turned around, searching for a way to say what she was referring to.

"The system's ready…" Henry said, interrupting their conversation. Rey breathed a sigh of relief, as they began to gather around the screen, with the exceptions of Ryder and Mari.

"So, Harmony, Chaos, are you guys okay with this?" Henry asked, finger hovering above the enter button that would execute the program.

"**Yeah…"**

"**Doesn't sound that bad of a plan…I mean, I'm stopping short of saying that Terriermon isn't a pervert but…go ahead and do it…"**

"What exactly is this plan?" Sora asked. Henry and Terriermon had briefly explained the plan to Takato and Rika, but they'd kept secret about it to everyone else, a fact that Terriermon decided to maintain.

"Too late!" Terriermon said quickly, leaping onto Henry's hand which then hit the return key. The screen flashed as the program began, and the Hypnos firewalls were passed through.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"What? They'd only have complained, and I'm sick of waiting…" Terriermon replied cheerfully. "It's not like we had all that much time though…"

"Time to do what?" Gatomon asked, before feeling woozy all of a sudden. Henry looked around the room, noting the Digimon's split-second reactions, which faded as the perception filter kicked in. He breathed a sigh of relief that Harmony's last minute addition had worked, it solved a lot of the problems with the plan that he still had.

He hoped it was the right choice though.

* * *

**Some take life away…**

* * *

Mari felt some arms slip around her neck. She was about to say something, but she noticed out of the corner of her eye Rey's red hair, and then looked down to see a golden necklace with a golden number '2' like pendant that had been placed around her neck. She turned around, to see Rey put her finger on her lips telling her to keep quiet about it. MiniDonmon watched, before hearing murmuring. 

"Ryder's waking up…" he announced, as Ryder began to gently open his eyes, looking up to see a concerned Mari, amongst other faces.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice hoarse due to his dry lips.

"Home…" Mari replied, smiling bravely.

"Was…was it a dream?" Ryder asked. Mari frowned and shook her head. "So I killed someone…" Ryder replied, his voice rough still. Mari handed him a glass of water as he sat up, and then put her arm around him, moving to sit next to him on the sofa as he turned to pick up the glass. He stayed silent, drinking it to wet his lips, before sitting in silence and staring at the glass.

"Are you okay?" Kristy asked, worried for the older boy.

"I killed someone…" Ryder repeated.

"Yeah, but you prevented more deaths…" TK noted.

"Does that change things?" Ryder asked. "I still killed someone…"

Mari pulled him close. "I would've made the same choice…" she reassured him.

Ryder frowned, closing his eyes. "What's going to happen to me?" he asked.

Mari frowned in response. "I don't know…but…you did the right thing…he would have killed others had he been arrested…"

"We could have reasoned with him…" Kari suggested.

Davis put his hand on her shoulder, frowning. "Some people are beyond reason…" he told her. She frowned.

"But…" she began, before realising she had no way to finish that sentence. She had to admit, Davis had a point.

Ryder leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "I have to kill again…I'll have to…" he said.

"Huh?" Takato asked.

Ryder looked to him. "We're going to have to face eight more of them, and…we're going to have to deal with them in the same way inevitably…I just…can't face that…" he said, emotion in his voice. Mari pulled him into a hug.

"Whatever happens…I'm by your side…" she told him, kissing him. He frowned afterwards.

"This…this is going to take…a long time to come to terms with…"

Rika and Henry frowned, and unknowingly both had the same thought.

'_I know what that feels like…'_

"Do you want them to stay?" Mari asked, looking around.

"If they want…it makes no difference…"

"We'll get through this…" MiniDonmon reassured. "We just need…to get your mind off things…" he added.

Ryder nodded. "I guess so…Mari, are you enjoying being a Tamer, and an Angel too?"

"It's different…that's all I can say…"

A slight smile crossed Ryder's features. "You'll get used to it, and be a good Tamer…"

"Yeah…the fact I already know what her ultimate and mega forms will be does take a bit of the fun out of it though…" Mari joked, glancing to Rika and Renamon, who nodded in response to the joke.

"I'll be glad to fight alongside you…" Sora reassured her.

Additions of "me too" came from those watching, and Mari smiled.

"Thanks…" she said humbly. "I won't let you guys down…"

"After seeing that dust storm, I don't think you could…" Tai noted. Mari nodded, and chuckled.

"It's getting late…" Sora noted. "We've got to head back to University, and I'm guessing that you guys have to get back to Odaiba soon?" she asked, looking to Davis, Kari and TK, who nodded.

"Yeah, after all the attacks today, my mum is probably having a fit…" TK joked.

"My sister'll be glad, she hates me…I'm glad she's at university…" Davis noted.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't want to see you injured, would she?" Kari asked.

"Not when she's the source of those injuries…" Davis joked.

Ryder looked into Mari's eyes, noticing the rest of the others gradually leaving out of the corner of their stare. Ryder pulled Mari into a kiss.

"Whatever happens…" he noted.

"Never say that!" Rika warned, as she and Takato left. Rey watched them leave, looking like she was about to follow, before she paused and sat on the sofa.

"Why?" Mari asked, but Rika was already gone. She shrugged, and switched on the television, Ryder putting his arm round her.

"Rika always said that every time Takato or her said 'Whatever happens', something bad would inevitably occur…" Rey noted, looking to the pair.

"Rey, did I make the right choice?" Ryder asked.

Rey smiled bravely at the question, nodding. "You did…he'd have killed so many more if you didn't, the others may view you harshly but you had to make a tough decision…"

"I don't go to jail or anything, do I?" he asked.

Rey smiled, and shook her head. "Of course not, you're a Hero…"

Ryder breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, thanks for the reassurance…"

"No problem…" Rey replied. "I guess it counts as playing around with time, so just play along when you have the questioning from police or anything like that, can you?"

"Okay then…" Ryder answered.

"So, are you going to leave again or what?" Mari asked, looking to the redhead.

"I'm…waiting for something…" Rey replied.

"What?" Ryder asked.

"I can't tell you…" Rey replied.

Ryder sighed, as a thought occurred to Mari. She glanced to DarkRenamon, who nodded.

"Rey, can I ask you something?" Mari began. Rey looked at her curiously, before nodding unsurely.

"Are you Rika and Takato's daughter?"

Ryder and MiniDonmon's eyes widened, as the evidence ran through his mind, almost as if played on a tape. Rey's eyes widened, as she realised what Mari had asked. She looked to Rejimon, who was similarly bewildered, before looking back to Mari.

"Um…" she began, hesitating as she tried to figure out what to say. "Yeah…" she said nervously, an odd mix of Takato's lack of confidence and a voice similar to Rika's.

"No…way…" Ryder exclaimed.

"Please…don't tell anyone yet…I want to…I want to reveal it myself…" Rey replied.

"Okay…" Mari replied, smiling to reassure the girl. "I now understand why you kept this secret so long?"

Ryder panned his eyes upward in thinking. "Now, let's see, assuming that Rika had you when she was in her late twenties, say 26, that'd make you from…about 2036?" Ryder asked.

"No…not exactly…" Rey replied nervously.

"So when then?" MiniDonmon asked.

"I was born on the February 28th 2011…"

Ryder's eyes widened, as realisation began to dawn on him. "But…that's next year…"

Rey nodded uneasily. "Yeah…"

"That's less than nine months away…Rika must be pregnant…now?" Mari noted.

Ryder was now very surprised at the facts that had been revealed to him all in a line. "But…when? Does she know?"

"She knows, and it was in New York…anything else would be far too personal…" the redhead replied. "It's been hard to keep it a secret…"

"Hmm…but…surely someone would've figured it out by now?" Mari asked. "Other than me, of course. There is so much evidence that I'm surprised that they didn't…"

"The flows of time and destiny…they will run as straight as possible…making people ignore even the most obvious of clues…it's a big element in how a perception filter works, if people don't expect to see something because of its unlikelihood, their mind will tell them that it's impossible…" Rey replied.

"Does that explain why Kristy hasn't noticed yet that she's the Ninth?" Ryder asked.

"Perhaps, it's definitely possible…" Rey replied.

"Thanks for telling us by the way, this distracts me from the fact I killed someone today…" Ryder noted, remembering the events of that day that he had begun to forget.

Mari frowned, placing her hand on his shoulder in reassurance, and changing the subject again. "So, when are you going to tell people?" Mari asked. "Presuming you do plan to tell people the truth…"

"I hope that it mostly becomes clear naturally, then I'm going to fill in the gaps…" Rey replied.

"This'll change our lives forever, won't it?" Mari noted. Rey nodded.

* * *

**And others change lives forever…**

* * *

Rika hesitated as they walked through the streets, heading to the park where they would once again bid farewell to each other until the following day. Takato noticed that Rika had stopped as they walked along the streets, the orange sun beginning to set from its place in the sky, and turned to face her. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. Rika nodded weakly, before nervously looking into his eyes.

"Takato, I have something to tell you and I know that you'll react in a way that'll make you faint…so…can you come to my house?" she asked, hesitating as she spoke.

"When, now?" Takato asked. Rika nodded, feeling her body tensed in uneasiness.

"I really…have to tell you something that's important…" she told him. "And I've only just summoned up the confidence to tell you, and I normally have plenty of confidence…"

"Will this explain why you've been acting all funny today?" Guilmon asked. Rika nodded.

"Yeah, I think Takato'll understand once I tell him…" she told the dino, who then looked to his partner.

"Okay…" Takato replied, Rika smiling in response and taking his hand.

"Thanks…" she replied.

* * *

Henry lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, the first silence he'd had in a while. 

'_I hope I made the right choice…I guess that we'll just have to find out…'_

"Henry, are you okay?" Terriermon asked, leaping onto him and winding him.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained as he gasped for air.

"That answers my question then…" Terriermon giggled.

Henry sighed, looking to his partner who smiled back to him.

"We made the right choice Henry…" the dog-bunny told him. "I'm sure of it…"

"I hope you're right…"

* * *

**Nonaka Residence**

**20:03 JST**

"Mum, I'm home…" Rika called out as she entered her house, Takato and Guilmon following. She noticed Kristy watching television, having left before her, and Kudamon sitting on her head. Seiko stood in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

"She's out on a date; she'll be back later…" Kristy said.

"Is Takato staying for dinner?" Seiko asked.

Rika nodded before Takato could reply. "Yes, he is…" she asserted, before looking into his eyes pleadingly. He nodded in response. Renamon smiled at the action, having reappeared inside the house.

"Yeah, I'll just call my parents…they'll think that something's kidnapped me otherwise…" Takato replied jokingly. Rika nodded, as he walked to the phone.

* * *

**20:46 JST**

"Thank you for dinner…" Takato said humbly, as he stood up.

"No problem, you're always a pleasure to talk to…" Seiko replied.

"Why is everyone in this house so polite?" Kristy asked Rika, who chuckled. Living in a house with Renamon, Kudamon and Seiko would inevitably annoy some people after a while.

"No idea, come on Takato…" Rika said, standing up, taking Takato's hand in hers, and leading him away to her room.

"It feels like those two have been together forever…" Seiko noted whilst smiling after they left.

Kristy nodded, and smiled. "Not like I've known any different…" she whispered to Kudamon, who smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takato following Rika through the door into her room, Renamon holding Guilmon back. 

"Guilmon, Rika and Takato are going to have a private chat…" she told him. He looked at her, and she looked into his eyes and nodded.

"Okay Renamon…" he replied. "What do you want to do? Not tag, by the way…" he asked.

Renamon chuckled. _'Good luck Rika…'_ she thought.

* * *

Takato stood nervously, watching as Rika walked to the middle of her room and turned round. He stood nervously near the door, unsure as to what exactly he should do. He was slightly worried about finding out what Rika had to say, if it scared her, it was clearly major. He decided that he would be by her side regardless of what it was. He just hoped it wasn't too big. 

"Sit down Takato…" she told him.

Takato cocked his head. Why would she want him to sit down? "Huh?"

"Trust me; you'll need to sit down…" Rika told him, nervousness in her voice.

"O…kay…" Takato replied, settling down carefully to sit on the wooden floor, looking up to Rika above. Rika smiled to reassure him, before sitting down herself, back to the wall.

"Takato…I learnt something this morning…" she began. "Something that I was scared of telling you…"

"Huh? Really? You can tell me anything, you know…" Takato reassured her.

"I realised that today…you protected me…you'll always be by my side, and I'm sorry for doubting you…" she replied.

"Don't worry…" he replied, smiling.

"I should've told you straight away, but…I was scared…scared that you might leave me…scared you might hate me for what I made us do…"

"Huh? What you made us do? What are you talking about?" Takato asked, now completely confused by what was going on.

"Takato…" Rika began, frowning as her voice went nervous. She felt herself grapple with what she was going to say.

"You can tell me…" he reassured. "Please…" he added, smiling to her. "I'm sure I'll understand…"

"Takato, I'm pregnant…" Rika told him. Takato looked at her, eyes beginning to widen, before he fell back. "And this is why I made you sit down…" Rika added, as he fainted.

She sighed, moving over to him and putting him into her arms. She smiled bravely, feeling great relief from what she had done. She lay him down on her futon, and walked to the door, sliding it open gently.

"Grandma, Takato fainted!" she called.

THE END

* * *

And so, the book ends, with a quite predictable reaction. Next up will be a series of epilogue chapters, which will cover the consequences of Rika telling Takato, and her having to tell others. 

Hope you've enjoyed the book itself, it was a challenge to write, and is now my favourite, partly because the plot is much stronger than previous books, and partly because it has so much more to write about emotionally, particularly with the dark ending involving Ryder which was particularly interesting to write. Please review.

Next time…

How will everyone deal with the consequences of Rika and Takato's actions?

Find out in 'His Reaction', Chapter Fourteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	14. His Reaction

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

And so on with the first of the chapters that will effectively be an epilogue to the story.

* * *

**CHAPTER 14**

_His Reaction_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Nonaka Residence**

**02:03 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

A pair of hazel eyes opened in the darkness of the room, lit only by the half moon hanging in the black sky, the orange tinge of light pollution contributing to a small extent.

The eyes blinked, and glanced around, trying to ascertain where he was in the dark. The first obvious thing was that he wasn't in his room.

The shining of the light through the translucent door told him where he was, and he sat up, rubbing his head in confusion. He felt a mattress below him, and looked around to note that it was a wooden floor that the futon, which he had now identified the bed as, was placed on. He was still in Rika's house for some reason.

'_Was I…dreaming?'_ he thought, glancing around. A red dinosaur slept oddly soundly nearby, lying on the floor, and a yellow Kitsune stood leaning against the wall, sleeping calmly, albeit standing up.

Gentle breaths came from Takato's side, and he looked to see Rika sleeping in another futon, presumably added to the room in the mean time since he lost consciousness.

'_Okay, now I'm confused. Chaos, are you going to fill me in here?'_

'**I know as little as you do…well, at least on this matter, I'm far smarter than you in…'**

'_I get the idea…'_

'**Okay. So did we faint or what?'**

'_I think so…'_ Takato replied, before the reason finally reached his tiredness-weakened mind, and his eyes widened. _'Rika…she told me she was pregnant…did that really happen?'_

'**Oh, I remember now…yeah, it did…Christ, you really screwed up big time there…oh great, and I have to deal with the consequences now…'**

'_Huh? I thought it was me that was in control…'_

'**Yeah, but I have to listen to all your nervous explanations and nonsense, it frankly bores me silly…funny at first, not funny the four-millionth time…'**

Takato had begun to ignore the voice in his head, and began to think about what had happened. _'I think this is Rika's normal bed…did she move me?'_

'**Yeah, if you recall, we fainted over there…'** Chaos told him. Takato nodded, glancing to near the door. He noticed his sleeve, and the watch glinting in the darkness, the numbers displayed on its screen.

'_It's 2am in the morning, I must have been out for a fair few hours…my parents are probably having a fit…'_

'**Nah, I'm sure they hate you, they prefer it when you're not around…'**

'_You know, you really can be a pain…'_

'**I know, and the best thing is, you're stuck with me, whether you like it or not. Unfortunately, it's also the worst thing, I'm stuck with you, whether I like it or not…'**

Takato sighed, before turning to stare at Rika, sleeping quietly with her hair down in the futon nearby.

'**Oh great, now you're going to make some kind of sappy comment like "She's so beautiful when she sleeps"…WHY DO I HAVE TO BE STUCK WITH YOU?!'**

"Stop shouting…" Takato replied, holding his ears in pain, before he realised that he had spoken out loud. He quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late, as Rika began to stir.

'**Great going bozo…'**

'_She's going to kill me, she's going to kill me, she's going to kill me, she's going to…'_

Rika yawned, opening her violet eyes and glancing into his hazel ones. "Oh…you're awake…" she noted, tinges of disappointment in her voice at him waking in the middle of the night.

"Um…yeah…" he replied, unsure about what he should be doing or saying.

Rika smiled weakly, looking to him. "I'm guessing you want to talk…"

"Well, it can wait until the morning…" Takato replied, pleading in his voice somewhat.

Rika sat up, Takato noticing she was only wearing a bra and panties, and blushing somewhat. Rika chuckled at the sight, messing around with Takato's mind was always an amusing thing to do, even with them being a couple.

"We'll talk now…it's more private anyway, everyone's asleep, and I really don't feel up to telling my parents yet…" she told him.

Takato nodded unsurely, the situation was so surreal he no longer had any idea what he was doing.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner…" Rika apologised, turning to him and attempting a smile.

Takato smiled and nodded. "I understand, I don't think I could have come to terms with something like this so fast…"

Rika nodded. "I'm sure that you haven't even come to terms with it yourself yet…"

"I haven't even begun to think about it…"

"Can you try not to freak out or anything?"

"I can't promise you anything…"

Rika chuckled, despite everything that'd happened, Takato was still Takato, incredibly brave at times but the rest of the time being cowardly. Rika herself seemed to be a catalyst for prompting his spells of courage, particularly when it came to the pair of them protecting each other, a fact which reminded her of the earlier events that day.

"What made me realise that I should tell you was when you protected me earlier…I realised that you'd do anything for me…I mean, up until our talk in the park, I didn't want to fight, but you come along and I race straight into battle by your side without really thinking…" Rika said to him. Their voices stayed hushed to avoid waking others, and Takato noted the fact that Renamon had opened one of her eyes once to see what was going on, before closing it once she had seen the commotion in the room.

"I just thought you were being emotional over something far less major than this…was that why Renamon was comforting you?"

"Yeah…I told her first because I needed support and I wasn't sure enough of myself to tell you…"

"So…did you find out at the Doctor's this morning?"

"Yeah…turns out that that is the reason why Rey told us that advice a few weeks ago…"

Takato nodded, and his eyes began to widen, before narrowing again, as Rika smiled.

"Contemplating?" she asked.

"Yeah, I started thinking about it…I'm going to be a father…"

Rika chuckled. "You've done the easy part; I have to give birth…" she joked.

"This is all so…"

"Unexpected?"

"Yeah…"

"I know what you mean…" Rika replied. "I guess I wasn't really thinking straight a few weeks ago…sorry…"

"Huh? But it was both of our faults, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it was my idea…"

Takato put his arm round Rika, smiling to her. "No, it was both of our faults Rika…" he told her. Rika frowned, pulling him close.

"I love you…" Rika whispered to him.

"I love you too…" Takato replied. "We'll get through this…I'm by your side…sure, I'm petrified right now, but…we can help each other…we will help each other…because we're going to have a kid…"

"Takato, is this all right? We're sixteen…how are we going to tell our parents? Not to mention how people are going to see us from now on…"

Takato frowned. "I don't know how they'll react…but…they are our friends, aren't they? They'll understand, won't they?"

"This is a bit more than making a mistake in battle, or taking a battle all on your own. We're talking about a kid, another person…a new life…"

"Yeah…this is going to make our lives complicated…"

"I'm sorry…"

"It really isn't your fault alone…"

"I know…but…here's how I'll make it up to you, I'll stop saying it's my fault, and you can choose the name…" she told him, smiling.

"Hmm…I'm not that good with names…" he replied.

"What about Guilmon? Where did that idea come from?"

"That was just a random name that appeared in my head…"

"I bet that Chaos had a part to play in that, if he and Renamon have existed before…"

"Yeah…"

"Okay, so, you give me a series of names, and I'll tell you if they're okay or not…"

"I guess we have to choose both a girls and a boy's name?" Takato asked.

"Either that, or pick a name that works for both genders equally…" Rika replied, now slightly irritated at the questions about such a simple subject.

"Okay then…" Takato began, before beginning to think. "Izumi?" he suggested.

"No, he or she will grow up to be a geek…" Rika replied bluntly. "Look at Izzy…"

"Okay then…um…Sakuya?"

"That'll confuse people when compared to Sakuyamon…plus, if it's a boy, it sounds a bit like a girl's name…"

"Hey, my great grandfather was called Sakuya…or was it my grandmother?" Takato replied. "I see your point…"

Rika chuckled at Takato's confusion. "Continue with the names then…"

"Okay…um…Rey?"

Rika looked at Takato, about to veto the name, but then her eyes widened, and his did so to match.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Rika asked.

"No…way…" Takato exclaimed.

"It's impossible…"

"Isn't it?"

"She just can't be our daughter…that's stupid…it's insane…it's…true, isn't it?"

"She does have red hair…and my colour eyes…"

"Yeah but…this explains why she kept it a secret…"

"She told you that you could never conceive who she was on the day we did it…did she mean two things?"

"But, isn't it a paradox? Ryder said that when Kudamon came into contact with Sleipmon, it made a big burst of energy…what'll happen if both Reys make contact with each other?" Rika asked.

"Not only that…we're like Gods…what kind of powers does Rey have?"

"She could be really powerful and just keeping it hidden…"

Takato and Rika stared at the floor for a short while, contemplating that Rey was their daughter, as the evidence added up.

"Earlier on…" Rika began, deciding to explain her talk with Rey. "Rey appeared when I was really sad…and…I asked her if I'm a good mother in the future…she said I was the best in the world…I didn't think she would know for sure, since she'd just be observing our kid but…the way she said it…it was really sincere, and honest and emotional…like…I don't know…"

"Did she say anything else?"

"Yeah, but…the most important thing I guess is that she kissed me…"

"What?" Takato asked, now thrown for a loop by this, right when he thought he was getting a hold on things.

"Yeah, at the time I thought she was crazy, or that our future was similarly crazy but…she said it was a force of habit…a daughter kissing her mother…"

"Is that what you confronted her about earlier?"

"Yeah…I'm glad she didn't answer, that would've been surprising…and it'd have made everyone know…I don't know how I could've faced that…"

Takato noticed Rika's distress, and gripped her hand in his to reassure her. "I don't think she would've said it anyway…"

"Yeah, I know but…if it had got out…I really don't know…what I would've done…I'm going to have to tell them all anyway but…"

"No…we're going to have to tell them…Rika, one of the reasons we're together is because we help each other, I can comfort you and you, well you scare the crap out of anyone who comes to pick a fight with us…" he joked. Rika smiled, turning to him.

"Thanks…" she said, pulling him into a kiss. "Do you think we made a mistake?"

"No…" Takato replied quickly, leaving him to back it up as well after a short silence. "Look at Rey, she's got the combination of your strength and confidence and my kindness…although you can be kind…"

"Not as kind as you Takato, you'd try to be kind to someone who'd broken your wrist…"

"Knowing that in all likelihood, that person would be you, yeah, I would…"

Rika chuckled, before placing her hand on her belly. "It's a really weird thought knowing that there's a child inside me…"

"What's it feel like?"

"Odd…woozy a bit, at the moment it doesn't really show, it's going to be odd when it does…"

"Yeah…we're the first parents ever to know our kid before they're even born, grown up to boot…" Takato commented, Rika nodding and smiling in response before a thought occurred to her.

"Look Takato…I'm going to have a load of mood swings, more than usual, and I'll probably range from being really angry and nuts to being really kind and irritating, but, anything I say under that kind of state, take with a pinch of salt, okay?"

"Yeah, okay…"

"Good, because I really don't want us to have a bunch of arguments…even if I am the one starting them…"

"Okay…" Takato replied, nodding. "What are we going to say to Rey when we see her?" he asked.

"Just a sec…" Rika replied, before climbing out of her futon and standing up. Takato watched her walk over to her jeans strewn over a chair, blushing as she turned around, something that Rika noticed.

"Takato, get a grip, we had sex, like I really mind if you blush when you see me in my underwear…" she told him, in a slightly exasperated tone of voice.

"Sorry…" he replied.

"You apologise far too much…" she told him, sitting back down on the extra futon she had had to lay out for herself after placing Takato on hers. "Anyway…" She held out a piece of paper, or rather two pieces, one more business-card like, and one looking like a scrap piece of paper. "This is Doctor Imai's number that she gave me to call, but more importantly, I have Rey's cellphone number…" she said to him, handing him the later.

"Wow, long number…" he said, examining the paper.

Rika nodded. "She said that wherever she is, ring this number and, if she's travelling in time, she'll be pulled out of the timestream in our time to answer the call."

"So…are you going to call it now?"

"We'll wait until the morning. She has some questions to answer though…"

"She must've known that this was when we found out…if I were her, I'd have run for the hills to avoid the complications…"

"Yeah, good that you fainted or you'd have probably done that after I told you…"

Takato chuckled, before they simply stared into each others eyes, before pulling each other into a kiss. Renamon opened an eye to watch all twenty seconds of it, before they stopped, and she smiled. Everything had worked out reasonably well between them after all; the complication now was dealing with others, and that wouldn't be easy in the slightest.

Rika settled back down inside her futon, Takato doing likewise with his. "Good night…" he said, eyes closing.

"Just don't wake me up again, or I'll be sick over you…" she replied, not opening her eyes in doing so.

"Yikes…okay then…" Takato answered, as the pair settled down to sleep.

* * *

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**05:36 JST**

Rey groaned as she opened her eyes to the encroaching sunlight through the window, the sunrise beginning to light the sofa she lay on. She only really had one shot at getting to any particular time, and so she decided to just wait it out this time around. She hadn't had a proper night's sleep in a while, an unintended consequence of time travelling. Rejimon continued to sleep silently on the armrest near her, the gentle breaths reaching her ears. Rey looked up to her partner, frowning. In all of this, she stayed silent, a stark contrast to her higher forms, which were far more talkative. Rey noted the fact that, regardless of the personality they had at their 'natural' level, Digimon seemed to be made more baby-like as they progressed towards that particular level. Rejimon and her would share occasional verbal chats, anything else done via telepathy, but they held a deep bond as a result of their history running back through the whole of both of their lives, albeit the Digimon maturing far faster than her.

Rey thought back to the reason she had decided to stay. Rika and Takato would want answers, and Rey was torn on it. On one hand, they would be so questioning, despite some answers being beyond what she could give, but at the same time, Rey really wanted to finally be open with them. All thanks to their future 'Lord and Master', she hadn't seen them in so long that it pained her not to be able to treat them as parents. But, she knew that she couldn't treat them as parents like she had done before, it took sixteen years of love and care to get to that level. What she wanted in reality was just to have someone there for her, having missed it in so long. Mari had acted like a mother for her ever since they had been reunited whilst storming Kazuya's central laboratory (at the time at least), and Rey couldn't help herself continuing this over into the past, a mistake she knew she would have to deal with before it became a problem. Kissing Rika was also another problem that, even once the pair knew the truth, would still inevitably cause tension between them.

Rey knew her mother, and so she knew that she'd end up with another more major problem because of her actions. Rika would rarely open up to people, it surprising Rey enough that she did the previous day (although mood swings could go a way to explaining it), and their kiss would lead to Rika facing her oddly for a while yet. A careful attempt at trying to establish the foundations for some form of integration into this world had been demolished by her actions, and she mentally kicked herself for it. Takato on the other hand, was more of an issue. Takato would always try to be kind to everyone, she had noticed that when observing her father, but at the same time he kept his true feelings hidden. Not to mention Chaos and Harmony, who probably now hated each other more than ever, her being the result of the pair of them, in a situation where they, unlike in their normal incarnations as far as she could tell, had little to no control. She smiled slightly, recalling the fact that she had both of their powers, and had used them several times in the past, despite their limitations. She had their powers, but unlike them, they were inherited and not direct, and therefore relied on her own energy, tiring her out in the process, their main downside.

Rey glanced to the time on her D-Vice, **05:45**. Time had become somewhat negligible to her in her travels, she could see fourteen sunsets in a row, and only one sunrise to match. She knew that, if he were here, he'd probably tell her that she should go back to sleep again (and to appreciate the peace compared to the future they lived in). Either that or he'd be complaining about Dorumon sleeping on him.

She put it out of her mind for now, he was in the future and she had to deal with today's events, before the bigger problem in the future became too late to prevent right now. It would still be a few years yet before she could do anything, and she had to ask herself why she didn't just jump straight there, but at the same time her curiosity was plagued by the past. Her absence for the intermediate years between then and when the event happened would also make it more difficult to prevent. She wasn't even sure what she planned to do in the first place, she couldn't exactly tell those involved in case she failed to prevent the event. She also doubted that she personally would be able to change anything, even with her extended free will, and that left it down to Ryder to do so, a hurdle she would leap across when she came to it. She only hoped she didn't fall over the hurdle in the process.

She sat up, turning round and glancing at the television to her side. She contemplated turning it on and hearing about the aftermath of the previous day's attacks, but at the same time she knew that it'd wake her partner, and inevitably Mari and Ryder sleeping in their rooms through the doors behind her, provided that they weren't soundproof enough to block it.

She walked over to the window, and looked out on a day that to her felt long dead and gone. To explore the past was amazing to her, and she had several times contemplated going further back in time, although at the same time she knew that there were great risks involved if she were to create a paradox. The future had also yearned to her, but it was far too foggy to be able to even begin to set coordinates. The chances of her being arrested by the empire of their 'Lord and Master', provided it was still extant, which she knew it would be, was also far too great to attempt such a move. And there was also the risk of being stuck in the future with no way home, a concept she couldn't bare to consider, particularly in 'his' world, the world of their 'Lord and Master' where she would be executed personally by him, probably with a large destructive battle before so.

She noted the irony that for her, weeks and months would pass while time travelling, but she would return to a time only a few hours after she left, knowing a lot more about the past than she did before clearly. It would be an interesting series of conversations when she was finally reunited with her parents from that time, after a painful year.

Rey settled back onto the sofa, lying along it to rest at least, if she couldn't sleep. It was going to be a long day, and she couldn't time travel to save herself from it.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Not much to say really, so please review. 

Next time…

What will happen when parents meet child?

Find out in 'Her Reaction', Chapter Fifteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	15. Her Reaction

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 15**

_Her Reaction_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Nonaka Residence**

**09:01 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

Dreams. Everyone has them, some more frequently than others. These people are typically referred to as Dreamers, and tend to have an overactive imagination to boot, leading to daydreams as they are known.

Takato Matsuki is a dreamer. He's had a wide variety of dreams, both vividly real ones (including one in particular that actually _was_ real) and completely abstract ones, normally featuring gears and his partner, a large red dinosaur-like Digital Monster, in a strange world.

His daydreams have both saved lives and made them worse, his overactive imagination rarely being corrected by his logic, and normally needing a certain redhead to knock some sense into him, although thankfully not literally (in all but a few cases).

However, at this particular moment, Takato was sleeping, and dreaming about something that is not particularly significant (although for the terminally curious it was about Rika beating Terriermon to death with frying pans, which isn't an unknown dream amongst his particular group of Tamers and Digimon). The more interesting factor was the other human, this one female, in the room, staring down at him already fully dressed with arms crossed.

The particular problem she was pondering at the moment? Was it her current situation of being with-child? Was it the fact that they would have to find and meet Rey at some point, who they had uncovered to be their daughter from the future? Was it how she would tell her parents about hers and Takato's news?

The answer, in fact, is none of the above. Rika was pondering the best way of waking Takato up.

Some things never change.

"Get up or I'll be sick on you…" she whispered in his ear teasingly, unfortunately bringing back the sore taste into her mouth from her nausea and subsequent vomiting earlier that morning, waking up before everyone else in order to keep her secret safe. Takato's eyes shot open, and Rika smiled teasingly, as he panicked in alarm before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Phew, I thought you were being serious…"

"Of course I wasn't being serious you idiot, for god's sake get some sense!" Rika bellowed, Takato paralysed in surprise. Rika suddenly felt eerily self-conscious of what she'd said. "Sorry…" she replied, Takato sighing.

"Your mood swings are going to take some getting used to…" he noted, climbing out of his futon, his day-clothes now heavily creased from wearing them all night. His goggles, now off-centred, were quickly corrected as he felt the strap on the back of his neck.

"At least it makes things interesting…" she noted, smiling teasingly.

"Wouldn't put it that way…"

Rika smiled, pulling him into an embrace. "I'm really glad you're helping me through this…" she said emotionally. Sure, it could've been part of the mood swings, but Takato knew that that was beside the point now.

"No problem…" Takato replied, as he felt her grip him tight. He raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, hoping for something to break up the awkward moment of an over-emotional swing without having to resort in him starting an argument, which could only bring dire results.

A cell phone rung on the table nearby, and Rika frowned, releasing Takato from her grip, as he breathed a quiet sigh of relief from now being able to breathe again and walking over to it, picking it up and putting it to her ear as he watched curiously. "Rika Nonaka speaking…" she said, looking to meet Takato's eyes as she listened to the voice on the other end. She smiled, recognising the voice. "Hello Dr Imai…"

Takato nodded in realisation as to who it was, recalling their talk during the night and the mention of the particular doctor during it. He smiled at how their talk the previous night had been, it'd given them a real chance to speak to each other without risking others overhearing, albeit the subject was still surprising to the Gogglehead.

"Yeah, I told Takato…" Rika said, answering the doctor.

Takato cocked an eyebrow, before it became clearer to him what the doctor was asking her. He hoped that this particular doctor wouldn't judge him too harshly; he knew that he'd face a lot of flak in the future from others.

"Oh, okay, sure, what time?"

There was a short pause, before Rika nodded.

"Well, we're going to see a friend first, but maybe about eleven o'clock?"

Rika smiled, and nodded, listening to the voice on the other end, and copying the motions of just about everyone who answered in the affirmative to a phone conversation, forgetting that the other person can't hear their nod.

"Okay, thanks…" she finished, pressed the hang-up button on the phone as she dropped it back on the table, looking to Takato and pausing, thinking about the conversation she had just had.

"So…" Takato began when the gap after speaking was getting too large and uncomfortable.

"We're going to see Dr Imai at eleven after seeing Rey…" she explained.

"We?" Takato asked confused. Rika stepped forward and squeezed his hand, smiling to him as she put her other hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know you're probably still recovering from the shock of all this, but…I really need you there…"

Takato nodded, still unnerved by everything that he'd learnt and talked about in the past twelve hours. "Okay…" he said nervously, not really sure what to expect when he saw her obstetrician. Would she look down on him? He still couldn't imagine how his parents would react to the news. His mother would probably faint, or get really angry, and his father would probably simply be surprised.

She smiled, oddly feeling amused by his nervousness as she pulled him into a deep kiss. She kept her right arm on his shoulder blade to reassure him as she noticed his nervous expression.

"You still here?" asked a groggy voice, as Takato did an about-face to see Kristy standing at the door.

"Kristy!" Rika complained, her sister's bluntness becoming an annoyance of hers lately.

"Yeah, but we're going out soon…" Takato said, walking over to Kristy and smiling.

That smile. That irritating, insane, 'everything'll be alright goofy smile' that Rika had fallen in love with. She smiled herself; he seemed to somehow always make everything alright. Maybe it was why she needed him with her today? But at the same time, Dr Imai was hardly a worrying prospect for her, she had been nothing but supportive the previous day. She expected that having Takato there would help her. She hoped so anyway. He'd probably be more nervous than anything.

"Good…" Kristy answered. "Where to? Can I come?" she asked cheerfully as ever. "Please…"

"Um…" Takato began, fishing for an explanation and glancing back to the girl behind him, who took the metaphorical baton and ran with it.

"No, we're going to see Mari and Ryder to talk about the legal and moral issues surrounding what Ryder did, you'd find it boring…" Rika stated matter-of-factly, hoping that it had worked.

"Can Guilmon come to play tag?" her sister asked.

Guilmon looked to his Tamer, who glanced to Renamon and then back to Kristy. "Um…"

Rika looked to the boy, trying to consider their way out of this. Guilmon didn't look particularly interested in playing again, and seemed more curious as to what was going on with his Tamer (reminding her that Takato needed to tell his partner yet). But how could they get out of this one?

"I don't feel like playing today, maybe another time?" Guilmon asked, smiling and somehow putting a non-negative face on things, surprising the others by how he managed to stand up for himself against playing tag every single day (and sometimes multiple times a day). It was fun, but not _that_ fun, particularly since as his Tamer matured and he became closer to Renamon at the same time, so too had he matured.

'_Like Tamer like Digimon…'_ Rika thought, comparing the dino's ability to cheer people up with his Tamer's identical ability, one that he had become renowned for.

"Okay…" Kristy replied, cheerfully. Kudamon looked up at his Tamer as he stepped into the room, glancing around.

"Good morning…" he greeted the variety of life-forms inside, be they Digital, human or incarnate. Then again, none of them were truly human, at least not 100 percent anyhow.

Rika nodded in response, before heading over to her phone again, lifting it in front of her and turning to Kristy. "Kristy, I've got to make a phone call, so can you leave us now…"

"Why?" Kristy asked. "Who are you calling?" she asked.

Takato bent down, smiling as always as Rika groaned in frustration. "I think what Rika means is that she'd rather not have people listening in on her calls, okay? She even gets annoyed when I do it…" he reassured.

"Uh-huh…" Kristy answered.

"Everyone has their secrets…" Rika said to her sister, who nodded, recalling the previous day's events, and forcing her to take them into account.

"Okay then…" Kristy replied, leaving the room and closing the door as Takato and Rika breathed a sigh of relief. Rika drew a crumpled piece of paper from her jeans, and began to dial the number, saving it into the phone's memory beforehand, in order to save time.

"Let's see if this works…" Rika noted, as Takato nodded, moving closer to her and the phone, although he still couldn't hear the other end beyond a faint noise.

Rika paused, waiting on the dial tone for someone to pick up. She pondered whether this would pull Rey out of the timestream, or if she was already in their time. The phone picked up quicker than she expected, supporting the later idea.

"_**Um…hello?"**_ the voice asked, nervously, knowing already who it would be calling her.

"Rey, it's Rika…"Rika replied, her voice taking on a slight edge of tease as she glanced to Takato, gesturing to dumb that down slightly.

"_**Oh…hey Rika…" **_Rey replied. Did she already know about this? She seemed unconfident already, not her usual self. Maybe she had been told the particular date, maybe it was just a hunch, it could've been anything really. Rika decided to find out where they would be able to meet her.

"Listen, where are you?" Rika asked.

"_**Erm…at Ryder's and Mari's place, why? You interrupted breakfast…"**_

That reminded Rika that she still had yet to eat that particular meal, but her concentration was far too much onto her present task. It also reminded her that Takato's parents would be expecting him home at some point after his fainting. How they were going to explain that was going to be a toughie. Then again, the 'Rika accidentally hit him too hard' excuse could hurt, were it not for his lack of physical bruises. She chuckled, that could easily be arranged. "We need to talk…" Rika uttered, the words clearly worrying the girl on the other end as she gulped, as well as bringing flashbacks of the previous evening to Takato.

"_**Um…okay…when and where?"**_

"There, at about ten, okay?"

"_**Um…sure…"**_

"Brilliant…" Rika replied, smiling for some reason at her form of teasing.

"_**Bye…"**_

"Bye…"

Rika put the phone down, and turned to Takato, smiling somewhat proudly, if not slightly peeved simultaneously.

"She's got your nervousness…" she noted.

* * *

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**10:02 JST**

The lift bonged as the doors slid open, revealing Takato, Rika and their partners who exited quickly, and turned down the hallway. "So…how are we going to talk to her? I mean, we did find out her secret." Takato asked.

"I have no idea…not sure how I'd react if I were her…I think we'll just play it by ear, okay hun?"

"Yeah…it must be really strange, meeting your parents before you were born…"

Rika nodded, considering the thoughts that Takato had no doubt been pondering for a short while beforehand. She didn't have the luxury of time however, as they reached the door with the '29' on it. Rika glanced to Takato, before pressing the doorbell. There was a short pause, before Mari opened it, smiling.

"Morning…" she said, her cheerfulness tinged with worry. Was it for Ryder?

"Morning…" Rika and Takato replied. Mari glanced down unconsciously over Rika, she didn't look pregnant, but no doubt she would soon. She pondered how to introduce them knowing into the conversation, before turning, guiding the two incarnates (although she herself equally qualified as an incarnate) over to the pair of facing sofas, Rey sitting on one and Ryder on the other, gazing off into space slightly, before being brought back to earth when Mari sat next to him, leaving Rika to sit next to Rey and Takato next to her. Rey and Rejimon, the later sitting on the seat back, glanced to their front and right nervously; this was going to be difficult. Mari noticed the pause, and, lacking at the moment Ryder's normal habit of taking a greeting into a conversation, took the reins herself.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked, smiling cheerfully.

Rika glanced to Mari when she spoke. "We came to talk to Rey…" she said, looking to the redhead next to her.

"What about?" Ryder asked, as Rey didn't respond.

"She knows…" Rika said. Takato was concerned at how teasingly Rika was approaching Rey, but wasn't exactly sure how to communicate it.

Rey then surprised everyone by standing up, almost sorrowful, and walking to the window, looking out on the city as the rest paused in whatever they planned to continue the conversation with. Rey's red hair was lit up by the daytime sun.

"Look…I've wanted to tell you so many times you wouldn't believe it…and then…then I realised that I couldn't…I just couldn't…in all likelihood, I'd cease to exist, and that is not what I have planned…" she noted, not turning. "I ended up leaving far too many clues though, I had to reinforce the flow of destiny with my own energy, even if my partner and I were to biomerge, I wouldn't have been much help…" Rey continued, turning to face them. "But looks like some people figured it out…" she noted, looking to Mari. Takato and Rika glanced across, eyebrows raised and eyes widened as the facts dawned on them.

"You knew?" Takato asked in surprise, as Mari paled back slightly.

"Yeah…I figured it out yesterday…Ryder and I…" she answered, turning to the boy next to her who'd been silent up until now. MiniDonmon glanced down from the spot on his head, curious as to the boy's reaction.

"We didn't tell you because…well…you weren't here, Rey only confirmed our suspicions after you left yesterday…"

Rika looked back to Rey. "So it's not private anymore, is it? The fact I'm pregnant is just something to be played around with, regardless of my feelings or anything?"

Rey frowned, her eyes sad. "I couldn't tell anyone because I knew that I'd end up causing myself to cease to exist, and I ended up telling them because they questioned me on it and I had no idea of what else to say…"

"Do what Takato does; blubber on until you find some odd idea…" Rika replied, pointing to the boy next to her. Rey smiled weakly, Rika did have a point about Takato, who proceeded to look back to the pair nervously.

"You have a point there…"

"So…you're really our daughter?" Takato asked. Rey nodded, looking away from his gaze nervously.

"Yeah…the Tenth Angel of Destiny is a direct descendant of Chaos and Harmony…a new Angel, but nonetheless still an Angel…" Rey answered.

"That explains the DNA…" Ryder noted, re-entering the conversation and moving all eyes to himself. "Mine is one strand, the 1st Angel strand, from each, but Rey's was five from each, like in normal DNA…half from the mother, half from the father, and one gene dominates to create the child's features…" he clarified.

"But, what difference does five ADNA from each make?" Takato asked. "I mean, do you have powers or something?"

"Well, besides the affect I can have on the flow of destiny, there are a few other things…" she answered, walking over to the window and turning round to face them again, pausing.

"Like?" Takato asked, left unsure by her pause interrupting her explanation. Rey smiled, as a pair of wings flew from her back, surprising Takato, Rika, Chaos, Harmony, Ryder, in fact, just about everyone in the room short of Rejimon, who still found her Tamer's abilities intriguing despite having seen them many times.

Takato looked over the wings. They were odd; they were like his and Rika's, but different. They were a combination of their own; along the top half of the wings ran blue colouring and the bottom half red. And these were exactly the same colours as their own wings, not some off-colour tint at all.

"I haven't really had a chance to see even Rika and Takato's wings really…" Mari noted. "But, they're incredible…they're like…I really don't know…an Angel…literally in your case…"

"This confirms what I once said; a child of Chaos and Harmony would have all the advantages of each and none of the disadvantages…" Ryder noted.

Rey nodded, before frowning. "Unfortunately, everything has a flaw…mine is that, unlike my mother and father, who have the fact they are Gods to power them mostly, I use my own energy in using my powers, so it's been a strain on me having to maintain the destiny alteration for so long…"

"So this destiny alteration, did it make me oblivious to the truth?" Ryder asked.

"Well, it made everyone but you oblivious at least…"

"Huh?"

"Ryder, this may be very confusing and hard to take in, but you don't have a Destiny…"

"What?" Ryder asked, the others similarly surprised and confused.

"I can feel, like you can feel time, the flow of destiny, and since you're not from this universe, you're like an unmoveable rock in it. It can't move you, only you can move you…you're a fixed point in time and space, you're a fact…I mean, since I'm out of my time, I'm freer in terms of will that everyone but you, but I'm still affected by it…"

"So basically, everything that happens to him, and all of us, is under his own control?" Mari asked. Rey nodded, and Ryder nodded in response to that.

"Makes sense…" he muttered, Mari glancing to him curiously. Why wasn't he more surprised by this? Rika and Takato certainly were.

Rey frowned. Ryder's secret would change their viewpoint on their lives forever if it were to be uncovered, so she knew she couldn't mention why.

"But…what can you do with that?" Takato asked. "Aren't you affected by the future at all?"

"I'm affected…definitely…some things must be happening to a plan though, otherwise what explains Rey? Rey knows me in the future, so there must be a course I can follow to get there. And then, there's the fact that I wasn't forced by some 'simplest way' effects to kill Taiki, I did it of my own accord…and…I'm really regretting it…"

"But…if you didn't, he'd have killed more…" Takato reassured. "You did what you had to do…"

"I know but…I could've done something else…I'm sure of it…maybe…I just don't know…" he answered, frowning sadly.

The beeping of D-Vices interrupted their thoughts and conversation, as DarkRenamon materialised near Mari.

"We have trouble…" she commented. Mari nodded, as her and Ryder both stood up, MiniDonmon jumping on his head. Ryder turned to Rika, Takato and Rey, an element of nervousness in his eyes about the upcoming battle in respect to it being his first since he killed Taiki. The fact that armed police officers hadn't turned up at his door yet was something that he took as a good sign, although he also knew that he'd have plenty of interviews with the police to deal with. "Are you coming?" he asked.

Takato looked to Rika, and Rey did likewise. Then again, Rey hadn't actually fought in any of their battles so far, the identity of the upper levels of her partner remaining somewhat a mystery, so they didn't expect her to fight anyway. But Takato and Rika could help out; they were probably the group's strongest weapon in Mari's eyes. Ryder, of course, knew that they definitely were, but nonetheless it'd probably just be a routine bioemergence.

"I think…we need to talk…" Rika answered quietly.

Ryder nodded, before Mari began to fumble about in her bag, throwing a set of keys onto the table. "Lock up when you leave…" she noted, realising that they could be out for an indeterminate period of time. Takato nodded.

"Okay, we will…"

"Ready Ryder?" MiniDonmon asked cheerfully, before frowning at the glumness of the brunette's reply.

"As ever…" the boy replied, as they exited the apartment quickly, Rika, Rey and Takato uncomfortably noting their new situation of being alone, and having to continue their conversation somehow with their daughter/parents.

'_What am I meant to say now?'_ Rika thought.

'_Okay, uncomfortable silence, think of something sensible to say…scratch that, just say anything…'_ Takato thought.

'_Um…am I meant to continue speaking or something?'_ Rey thought.

Rika swallowed the lump in her throat, beginning the conversation again. "So…you said that I was a good mother…really?" she asked, more than a hint of her unsure feelings in her voice.

Rey nodded, noting Rika's disbelief about it. "Yeah, you really are…"

"I've never thought of myself as that kind of person…" Rika noted.

"What about with Kristy?" Takato asked, recalling that particular morning, and several other occasions when Rika had particularly cared for her sister. "You seem to care for her…"

"I suppose…that's more of a big sister thing….she still drives me nuts though…" Rika answered, smiling at the last part.

"Rika, you drive me nuts in my time…" Rey noted, smiling. "That's what families are all about…"

"What am I like in the future then?" Rika asked curiously.

"Well, up until 'The War', you were confident…" she began.

"As always…" Takato added.

"…and occasionally let it get to your head in battle…"

"As always…" Takato added again.

"But you're also caring, although you don't like to show it to others…"

"As…"

"If you say that again Takato, I will personally make sure you can't say it ever again afterwards…" Rika threatened jokily. "And I don't think Rey wants time to be altered _that_ much!"

"Um…ok…" Takato answered, paling back slightly.

"Good…" Rika agreed, Rey smiling at the relationship between the two in relation to her mother's mood swings. "So, what is this whole 'War' thing?" Rika asked, returning to the conversation.

"I really can't be specific…"

Rika sighed. "Fine…" she said sharply, crossing her arms in frustration as she leaned back on the sofa.

"So what do I do in the future, I mean, what was I doing as a job when you started time-travelling?" Takato asked curiously, leaning forward and looking to his daughter.

Rey frowned, sighing as she fell back onto the sofa back and closed her eyes, swallowing a lump in her throat before she began. "Mom, Dad, I haven't seen either of you in my time in a year…when I first saw you two about two years ago in your time…that was the first time I'd seen you in a whole year…"

"What? What the hell happened?" Rika asked, the couple shocked by the revelation. What could possibly have made them leave their child for an entire year, particularly during a war? What was this 'War' anyway?

Rey sighed sadly. "Another thing I can't tell…but…maybe it's why I ended up becoming so emotionally attached and making mistakes…I just wanted to continue things where I left off I guess…" she answered, gazing down at the table in front of her. "The last year has been hell for me; I've been shot at, fainted, betrayed, I even ended up nearly captured several times, I'm public enemy number one!"

"Huh? Why?" Takato asked, horrified by the concept.

"Let's just say that our new 'Lord and Master' has some personal gripes with me…"

"Who is this Lord and Master? What the hell does he think he is?" Rika asked. "Why haven't we dealt with him?"

"There's a reason…" Rey answered. "But I just can't tell you it, at least not until I've fixed the paradox and prevented a particular event happening…"

"So then, time will change and none of what happens in your time will happen?" Takato asked.

"That's the aim, but I still have to pull it off in practice…" Rey answered, frowning. "And I really don't know how I'm going to manage it…"

Rika put her arm around the girl, surprising her while comforting her simultaneously. "Don't worry, we'll help…you're not alone Rey…"

Rey smiled, slightly reassured by Rika's help, but her happiness was weighed by an unfortunate knowledge that they simply couldn't help. Not with this situation.

"So…what does this make us?" Takato asked, confused by the current state of affairs. "I mean, no one is going to believe, outside of our group, that you're our daughter…and…well, what do we do?"

"Well, the name is easy enough; I'm simply from a different family of 'Matsuki's' to your 'Matsuki's'. And I guess that I'm just another Tamer to everyone else really, probably a bit suspect but…well, I check Digital Watch occasionally and they are still stumped as to who I am. Hell, they don't even know my name…"

Takato nodded, as Rika continued with a more personal question. "So…how are we meant to…you know…" she began, before deciding to pause and start again with what she was saying. "I mean, how are we meant to address you, and what kind of relationship would it be?"

"However you want Rika, whether you want to treat me as a daughter, relative or simply a friend…" Rey replied. "After the way I lied to you for so long, you can treat me how you want…" she added, frowning.

Rika noticed her daughter's sadness, and pulled her closer. "Daughter…" she noted.

Rey smiled slightly; glad to know that she'd have someone to care for her, as far as possible at least. "I…I'll still come and go, I don't want to age too much, but I'll try and be there for anything big, like birthdays, important events, and of course, battles." Rika chuckled at the last bit, knowing that that sort of feature in their lives wouldn't be easily silenced. "I love you two though, you cared, or rather will care, for me for my entire life…and I'm really grateful…"

Takato and Rika smiled, nodding. "No problem…" they both answered, still daunted by the prospect of caring for a child at their age. Putting it out of their heads for the time being, they returned to the conversation.

"Something still bugs me…" Takato began, pondering the thought which had plagued him for a while. "There's no problem at the moment since you're still technically in Rika's womb, but…what happens when you're born? Won't it cause confusion? And what happens if you two touch each other?"

"It creates a paradox, I know, so I've got to be very careful about that. The confusion we'll just have to put up with I think…" Rey replied, sighing.

"Listen, Rey, you're welcome to stay at my house anytime you want…I hope that no-one will suspect anything, but I can't promise you that…" Rika said, Rey looking into her eyes thankfully.

"Thanks…that's a lot better than sleeping anywhere I can find when I get tired out from time travelling…"

"No problem…" Rika answered. "The Gogglehead here would help, but I also know that he's only got one bed, and no spare rooms, so you're outta luck there…"

Takato smiled. "Sorry 'bout that…"

"Don't worry…" Rey reassured. Takato nodded, glancing at his D-Vice for the current time, before standing up, a thought occurring to him. "Hey, Rey, you don't have some kind of voice in your head, do you?" he asked.

"Nah…oh, that reminds me, by the way, hi Chaos, hi Harmony, you must be kicking yourselves now!" she teased.

"**Not even close…"**

"**God I hate these incarnations…"**

Takato smiled at his alter-ego's annoyance, before looking to Rika. "We probably want to leave about now to see the obstea…obster…ob…um, little help here?"

"Obstetrician…" Rika corrected. "And yeah, we do…" she added, standing up.

"Um…can I come?" Rey asked. "I know that it'll be strange and all, and I probably won't be allowed in, but I'm still curious…not many people get to find out about themselves before they were born…"

Rika smiled, noticing her nervousness which was oddly just like Takato's. However, would it be that easy for her to come? Her name was Rey Matsuki after all; the doctor would surely be suspicious? She also doubted that she wanted her daughter to hear the more delicate details of her relationship with Takato, which would no doubt be mentioned by the doctor. Takato looked up to her curiously, waiting for her answer.

Rika frowned, looking down at the girl who was eager to come. It would be unfair to say no, but at the same time she didn't want her in the room when she was talking to the doctor. "Listen, you can come, but you have to stay outside…"

"Fine…" Rey replied, standing up as Rejimon leapt onto her shoulder again, gripping onto her hair as she began to slip. "Ow, Rejimon, please be more careful!" she complained.

"Sorry…" the red blob replied timidly, as Rey stood up, them all walking away from the sofas and heading for the door, Takato taking the keys in the process.

Renamon focused her eyes on the red blob, trying to figure out who on earth she was, Guilmon doing similarly. Rika glanced at her D-Vice, but found no data. She cocked an eyebrow, whilst Takato asked the question.

"So who is Rejimon?" Takato asked. "What's her normal level?" he added, as he locked the door to the apartment after they'd all passed through it.

"Realmon, a rookie vaccine type…" she answered. "But, at the moment it's just easier for her to be like this, more portable…" she added, as Takato finished with the door and they began to walk down the corridor.

"But why baby level, why not in-training?" Rika asked.

"Not sure really, maybe she just likes it…" Rey replied, looking to her shoulder.

"You speak like she isn't around, why exactly?" Renamon asked, appearing.

Rey smiled. "Sorry, never really mentioned it, I'm kinda telepathic…I speak far more with her than it seems, it's easier for the pair of us…we've got a very deep bond…"

Renamon nodded, understanding. "Impressive, how long have you known each other?" she asked, as Takato pressed the button for the lift.

"Sixteen years…the day I was born was the day I met her…then again, I wasn't exactly aware of who she was back then…and I don't remember it either…" Rey answered, eyes glossed over in reminiscence of the events of her entire life. "I've seen her every day of my life; I just couldn't bear things without her…"

"I know what you mean…" Takato answered. "But that's a lot longer than I've known Guilmon; you must pretty much know everything about each other…"

The lift arrived, and they stepped forwards into it, turning as Takato pressed the button for the floor.

Rejimon nodded, looking to her Tamer. "Yeah…" she replied, her voice timid and quiet as ever._ 'I think so at least…' _she mentally added, as the doors slid closed.

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**10:58 JST**

Rey glanced around the waiting room of the hospital, seeing patients suffering from a range of ailments. The room was glum, and the mood depressive, the drinks machine buzzing away. Rey frowned; it was still ironic that this place was better than medical care back in her time, even with Joe as the head medical expert for the Angels and Tamers.

She pondered how the conversation within the room between the doctor and her parents was going to go. They currently awaited being called forth for the doctor, who she had been informed would be free at eleven. She would naturally end up sitting outside, and she simply hoped she wouldn't die of boredom in the interim. She wished she'd had the chance to get Ryder to fit Tetris to her D-Vice, and she also wished that her time device was accurate enough to skip the duration of the appointment.

"Rika Nonaka…" the nurse called, as Rika nodded, standing up with Takato following. Takato was, typically for when he had to go into a public building like this without causing panic, sans-Guilmon, and Renamon was presumably…somewhere.

"Have fun…" Takato said sarcastically to the redhead who he had recently learnt was his daughter. She nodded, smiling and talking sarcastically in response.

"Oh yeah, I'll have tons of fun…"

Rey only received a smile from the other redhead, as she took Takato's hand, rather tightly as well, and led him down the hallway. Rey sighed, looking to her partner.

"_So what can we do to pass the time?"_ she asked.

"_I spy?"_

"_No…"_

"_Mornington Crescent?"_

Rey chuckled at the name of the game that Ryder had once taught her to play back in her time. It was an odd one, two or more people would name random subway stations, usually ones in London, the city that Ryder lived near for the first sixteen years of his life, and there were strange arbitrary rules that became more and more deceptively cunning as they played. But, nonetheless, Rey didn't particularly feel like it.

"_Sorry, don't feel like it…maybe we could just talk?"_

"_Fine…um…lovely weather we're having?"_

Rey rolled her eyes at her partner. _"Was that supposed to be a joke?"_

"_Yeah…"_

"_Good…"_

* * *

**11:02 JST**

Dr Imai smiled as she saw her latest patient enter her practice, followed by someone who she had a pretty clear idea of the identity of. "Please, come in, take a seat…" she greeted, Rika nodding far more confidently than the brunette with her. "You must be Takato?" she asked.

The boy nodded, clearly unsure about how he was meant to act in this situation. "Yeah…"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to judge you or anything…"

"Okay…" Takato answered. Dr Imai frowned as she sat on her own chair, he didn't seem particularly talkative. Then again, by the sounds of it, he was still dealing with the situation at hand, so she didn't expect him to be.

"Right, so just to be clear on this Rika, who exactly have you told?" Dr Imai asked, turning her attention to the redhead.

"Takato, my Digimon partner Renamon, his Digimon partner Guilmon, and three of our close friends and their partners…one of them came with us today…" she explained. "Other than that, no-one…"

Dr Imai nodded. "Do you currently have a plan for how to tell others, in particular your parents?"

Rika shook her head. "No, I only told Takato yesterday evening, and he fainted in response…we did have a long and nice talk about it when he woke up in the middle of the night…"

"I see…how do you each expect your parents to react?"

"Well…I'm not that sure really…my mother had me when she was young herself, so she may or may not understand…as for my Grandma, she should be understanding about it…I hope…"

"Okay, and what about your father?"

Rika frowned, causing the doctor to see she'd moved on to a conscientious issue. "He left when she was a child…" Takato explained, the doctor nodding in response.

"I see…and what of your parents?"

"Well…my mum will either get really angry or faint and then get really angry…I hope she doesn't get angry, but that's not exactly unlikely…my dad, well, I'm not sure how he'll react, he'll probably be concerned…but…I just don't know…"

"I see…" the doctor replied.

"We also have to tell our friends, and that will hopefully not be too painful…" Takato added, frowning at the concept.

"I see…" the doctor replied. "I think it's probably worth me explaining how this will all work…"

"Yes please…" Rika replied.

"Starting at the seventh week, if I am correct as to the correct time in weeks, you will visit me once a month until the twenty-eighth week, after which it'll increase to two-weekly and then weekly for the last two to four weeks. The first ultrasound would be on the seventh week."

Rika nodded, taking in the information, as Takato tried to do the same, with a limited degree of success, the complicated timescales confusing him somewhat.

"How do you wish me to contact you?" the doctor asked.

"Can you continue to ring me on my cell, it's more private than my landline…also, if anyone else but Takato picks up, find some way out of it, okay?"

"I will…" the doctor replied, smiling at the concept and nodding, as she looked back to the still-nervous Takato. "You can relax Takato, don't worry…" she said, not doing anything to ease his nerves.

"Fine…" he replied.

The doctor frowned, before looking to the pair of them. "If you don't mind, I would like you to explain your current situation in more detail so I can get to grips with it…"

Rika glanced to Takato who nodded, before herself nodding. "Okay…it all started three years ago…that's when we first met, as Tamers, back then we were annoyed by each other at times, friendly at others…"

"Yeah, and then, once we beat the D-Reaper…the large red blob thing, we lost our partners, so we were sad…" Takato continued.

"Then, Takato here finds the portal back to the Digital World, and we go, finding our partners…after I had a fall out with my mother beforehand…"

Takato nodded. "Yeah, I tried to help, but she could be very closed with her emotions…she ended up falling out with one particular person in our group, and storming away…I followed after her, and comforted her, and then it all started…"

"Once we returned to the real world, we started our relationship, in secret of course, since some people in our group of Tamers would be amused by it and annoy us if they knew…

"Yeah, but after several adventures of various sorts, they found out nonetheless…"

"And so we've had a stable relationship for three years and several months…a few months ago, though, I felt some strange new feelings towards Takato, and when we were in New York about five weeks ago, I acted on them…I mean, I asked Takato first, and he agreed, albeit asking me several times whether I was sure…"

Dr Imai smiled; it seemed to fit the personality of the boy from what she had seen perfectly. "Yeah…and then I suppose we ended up here…" Takato finished.

"I see…" the doctor answered. "It is a relief to know that she has someone with her through the process, and I'd like you to know Takato that, while I am first and foremost Rika's obstetrician, I am available to talk if you need to about anything related to this, and you shouldn't feel embarrassed or nervous about it…"

Takato nodded. "Whether that'll make a difference to if he does is another question…" Rika joked, Takato nodding and smiling.

"So, anything else you wish to talk about?" the doctor asked.

"Is there anything I need to be careful with in the beginning of my pregnancy?" Rika asked.

"Well, avoid too much physical stress, although at this early point it is not as important to do so as later…try to eat well, avoid alcohol, and just muster up the courage to tell people…"

"I'm here to help…" Takato said to the redhead confidently, attracting her attention as he took her hand in his. "We can do this Rika…I know it's going to be extremely hard, probably harder than any battle we've ever fought, but we can do it…"

"Thanks…" Rika said. Takato pulled Rika into a kiss, Rika glancing across to the Doctor and pulling away. "Takato, what did I say about being over-sappy in public?"

"Never do it?" Takato asked. Rika nodded, smiling. The pair laughed, and Dr Imai smiled; they seemed to have an interesting relationship, but nonetheless a very deep one.

"So, I'll see the pair of you in two weeks…" Dr Imai said, standing up and the pair of them following as she showed them to the door.

"Yeah…" Rika answered, as she opened it to meet the face of a bored Rey, hands in pockets. Takato and her cocked eyebrows, before Rey explained in no uncertain terms.

"I was bored…"

"Is this your friend?" Dr Imai asked, bewildered by how the person had just been standing outside like that.

"Yeah, this is Rey…" Rika explained.

Rey nodded. "Greetings…sorry about that, I got bored so I decided to walk up here and figure out which room it was, I didn't hear anything so no need to worry about that either…"

"I see…are you a fellow Tamer?" Dr Imai asked.

"Yeah…this is Rejimon…timid so don't expect any answers…" Rey explained, gesturing to the blob with white ears on her shoulder.

"Aw, he's…she's…it's?"

"She…"

"She's so cute…" Dr Imai noted, Rika rolling her eyes at the word which had annoyed her a lot in the past.

"Really? I just think she's cool…" Rey replied. "She kicks ass in her rookie form, not to mention champion and ultimate…"

Takato sweatdropped. This was an odd conversation, between their obstetrician and the baby she would provide prenatal care for, but as a teenager. "Anyway, I hope you can help these two with telling others…"

"Well, I will if they need it…"

"Good to hear…" the doctor answered. "So, I'll see you in…"

A stretcher raced past bustled about by plenty of medical personnel, interrupting the doctor. One of the interns paused, attracting the doctor's attention. "Dr Imai, this patient requires urgent medical attention…"

"Right…" Dr Imai answered, quickly pursuing. Rey, Rika and Takato stared down the corridor as the stretcher moved away, before a black blur came into her vision.

"DarkRenamon?" Takato asked, recognising the shape. She was injured, and looked worn out.

"Follow…quickly…" she said.

Rika glanced to Takato, before running forward, Rey in quick pursuit. They ended up following DarkRenamon who was following the stretcher, all the way into the emergency ward, where the stretcher was taken into a room, Takato, Rika and Rey peering through the window. Their attention, as the doctors hurried around, the door swinging often enough for them to catch parts of dialogue, was drawn to a familiar girl with red-brown hair, green jacket, black t-shirt and blue jeans, all looking worse for wear as a red bat-like Digimon sat on her head, looking over sadly at the person on the stretcher.

"Sixteen year old male…"

"Major injuries in the left side…"

"Serious bleeding…"

"Heart rate unstable…1000 volts…" Dr Imai ordered.

One of the Doctors raised a pair of defibrillator paddles, and put them down, a jolt of electricity running through the boy on the stretcher as their view cleared. On the stretcher, the boy lay, his side bleeding seriously and with major injuries. CPR began on him, as it dawned on the observers who he was.

"Ryder?" Rey panicked.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Just when you thought the epilogue was all about Rika, Takato and the baby, I throw a curve-ball. Please review. 

As for the update schedule, expect me to go back and forth between _Deviations_ and _Dimensions_ based on what I feel up to writing at the time, both are different. _Dimensions_ is far deeper at present with all of its back-story, but _Deviations_ tends to have longer chapters and require watching of the episodes that takes a lot of time.

Next time…

What happened to Ryder? Will he survive? Will Rika and Takato manage to tell anyone else?

Find out in 'His Words', Chapter Sixteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	16. His Words

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 16**

_His Words_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**11:27 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

A deathly silence had descended upon the group as they waited in the hallway, occasionally taking glances into the room through the window where their view was obscured by both doctors and nurses treating the patient. Rika leaned against the wall, arms crossed and looking at the floor in contemplation, while Rey and Takato had taken seats, all agitated as to the state of their friend.

'_What happened to him?' _Rika thought, glancing up through the window._'It looked like he got hit by something…'_

Mari was watching silently from the corner of the operating room, left undisturbed by those busily operating away as she watched. They passed from defibrillation to CPR and back again continuously, on an endless two minute cycle.

The heart rate machine varied significantly, Dr Imai regularly looking at it and frowning at its results as she proceeded to continue with orders.

"He's stabilising…" one of the male nurses noted, as the equipment began to slow down in its erratic changes.

Dr Imai paused, before beginning to change her orders, Mari watching and not hearing them as she stared on at the unconscious boy, questions racing through her conscious.

What the hell had happened to him?

What was he doing?

Could he ever fight again?

Mari decided, as some of the staff left, to follow, taking a glance at Ryder before leaving into the hallway, where all eyes were on her.

"Is he okay?" Rey asked concerned.

"They…" Mari began, pausing when her voice broke up before she could say anything more. "They said he was stabilising…"

Rika frowned. Even if he was stabilising, the fact he wasn't stabilised implied it could get worse again. "What happened to him?" she asked, her voice taking on a tone of concern.

Mari sat down, looking around to the others. "He took a direct hit from an ultimate level…"

"What?" Takato asked in surprise. No wonder he was that injured, humans could be that heavily injured from rookies, let alone ultimates.

Mari nodded. "We were fighting…Mammothmon and Bakamon…Youkomon and I were dealing with the ghosts while Ryder and MegaDonnermon were dealing with the ultimate…and Ryder decided to use his retcon ability so he ran out in front of the Mammothmon, with MegaDonnermon behind him to attack…" she recalled, before pausing as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

Takato frowned; Mari looked distressed far more than he'd ever seen.

"What happened?" Rika asked.

"He froze up…completely froze, no blinking, no movement, no nothing…like…like he was thinking…and then Mammothmon hit him with the trunk into a building at high speed…"

Takato's eyes widened in alarm, horrified by what he'd heard. "No way…why did he freeze up?"

"I have no idea…" Mari answered. MiniDonmon, on her head, looked glum and hadn't talked so far.

"Are you okay?" DarkRenamon asked, stepping in from nowhere and looking to the bat, who frowned.

"Poor Ryder…" he muttered sadly, looking back into the room where the doctors continued to operate.

Takato frowned. He couldn't stand to see his friends like this, both physically and emotionally in pain. He just hoped that Ryder pulled through.

Rey glanced at her hands, alarm spreading through her. "If Ryder dies then I can not have come to the past…damn free will…" she muttered angrily, swearing that she saw her hand blur and fade periodically before returning to its normal self.

She gritted her teeth, she was already fading. Time was flipping backwards and forwards, she had to do something before she simply ceased to exist. Ryder gave her the device, if he died now then there was no way that could possibly happen, let alone all the other battles that may have been lost were it not for his aid.

'_Please hang in there…'_ she pleaded, seeing the various doctors and nurses exit the room, leaving only a few still in there.

Dr Imai paused when outside, looking around at the teenagers waiting agitatedly outside. She frowned. "He's stabilised, but the injuries are very severe…what exactly happened?"

"Side impact by the metal trunk of a huge enraged mammoth into a building…" Rika answered, the cold way she said it covering up her true worry for the boy, as a friend, fellow Tamer and own creation (albeit, the descendant incarnation of the first First Angel).

"I see…" Dr Imai replied. From anyone but the Tamers, it would seem like a cold sick joke (on the level that doctors would use to soften the pain of so many deaths and terminal injuries or diseases), but from what she had seen and heard, it simply wasn't going to be. None of them looked in the mood for jokes in the slightest.

"Is…is he going to be alright?" Mari asked nervously, not particularly wanting to hear the answer if it was to be bad news.

"I hope…it's far too early to tell…I'm actually rather surprised that he's still alive after what you said happened to him…"

Takato nodded, Ryder was an Angel, designed to take higher levels of damage than a normal human, but he was far from invincible even then. Taiki, of the Demons and presumably having similar resilience to the Angels as their polar opposite objectives-wise (a fact supported by surviving attacks from Digimon and buildings collapsing on top of him), had been dispatched by an ordinary pistol, albeit also from point blank.

"Is he unconscious?" Rey asked.

"Coma…" Dr Imai replied. "For how long, we can't be sure…"

"Can I see him?" Mari asked, a mix of eagerness and concern in her voice.

Dr Imai nodded, opening the door with her hand. "Try not to touch any of the equipment…" she noted, as Mari walked forward, nodding.

"Thank you…" she said, entering the room. She glanced around the room again, finally able to see it properly with no others in there. Dr Imai followed her, standing at the door and glancing around. Mari didn't notice, she was soon transfixed on the boy lying on the stretcher in the middle, covered in pipes and drips covering his bare chest and arms. A heart rate monitor beeped away as the line wavered up and down.

Ryder's eyelids were closed, and his brown hair was ruffled. His side was bleeding, and had been hit very hard, bruises running across it where it wasn't bleeding. Despite this, he had a look of peace to him. Mari ran her hand across his cheek gently, frowning at his complete lack of reaction.

"Seat?" asked the doctor, pushing a chair up to her. She nodded blankly, sitting on it. "Do you mind if the others come in?"

"Yeah…if they want…" Mari replied, not paying all that much attention to the doctor, her view still transfixed on the boy's face. She heard the door open behind her, as people entered, their footsteps pausing as they saw him.

"We'll need to move him into the ICU in a second…" Dr Imai noted.

Mari nodded unconsciously, as Rey looked over the boy. "He seriously took a hit…" she noted. "It really is amazing that he survived…"

'_I hope he continues to survive…'_ Mari thought, unknowing that Rey was having similar thoughts.

* * *

**Intensive Care Unit, Shinjuku General Hospital**

**12:02 JST**

"Here…" Rika said, smiling weakly as she held out the can of soda to the girl who'd been seated alongside the bed contemplating since they moved Ryder into the ICU. MiniDonmon slept at the end of the bed, tired from the hits he had taken during the battle.

'_Why did he freeze up?'_

Rika frowned, Mari not noticing her at first, and looking like she was in a trance. "Mari…" she said, attracting the girl's attention as she looked up, and took the can, smiling weakly.

"Sorry, was thinking…"

Rika nodded, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her. Takato was still back at the machine, trying to sort out a situation where a thirsty Chaos had simply smashed the glass with a ball of energy after Takato realised he had no money on him, Rey trying to help her father in the nervous explanations about it just 'happening' to smash.

"He'll wake up, I'm sure of it…" she tried to reassure.

"Some people can be in comas for weeks, months, even for the rest of their lives…" Mari said glumly, resting her head on her hands. Rika frowned, glancing to the heart rate machine, still beeping as a doctor checked it.

"Maybe he'll survive…he is an Angel…" Rika reassured.

"Rey said that he has no destiny…nothing is keeping him alive, no events in the future to drag him away from things…" Mari said pessimistically.

'_I'm a God, or at least part of one, why can't I do anything?'_ Rika thought, once again feeling pangs of helplessness as events raced past outside of her control.

"…Angels…" muttered a voice, and the pair turned in surprise to see…no change.

"Huh?" Rika pondered.

"I could've sworn that was Ryder…"

"Yeah…did you manage to deal with the bioemergence?"

Mari nodded, a flash of fire running through her eyes as she recalled the rage of the two digimon that had been on their side in the battle. "After Ryder was hit…MegaDonnermon went crazy, he literally tore Mammothmon in two, and the Bakamon were quickly dispatched by Youkomon."

"And what about you?"

"I was distraught…I went over to him…I panicked…everything just blanked out afterwards, an ambulance arrived at some point and I rode in it to the hospital…" she recalled, tears brimming at the memories.

"Home…"

"Huh?" Mari said, looking back, as Rika copied her movements.

"Are we hearing things or what?" the redhead asked.

"Takato, you may be the world to me, but you are really useless at bluffing your way out of things…" Rey said, as they approached, attracting attention away from the boy and onto Takato laughing sheepishly.

"I know…" he replied. Rey's expression turned from one of angered irritation to sadness as she looked over to Mari and Rika, and the boy in the bed. "How is he?" she asked, looking over Ryder as Takato sat down next to Rika.

"Still no change…" Rika reported.

"I…V…"

"What?" Takato asked.

"Did he just speak?" Rey asked, looking to Ryder again.

"He's been doing that for a while now…" Mari said.

"How is he?" asked another voice, as the group looked up to see Dr Imai, a worried expression on her face.

"He's…talking…are you sure he's in a coma?" Rika asked, confused.

Dr Imai nodded. "He is in a coma, contrary to popular belief, some people can talk in comas, varying from incomprehensible words to complete sentences…what has he been saying?"

"Not sure, wasn't really listening at first…" Mari answered, looking to the boy again.

"I…v…"

"IV?" Rey asked.

"Intravenous Drip…" Dr Imai noted, stepping over to one of the drips attached to him, and checking it. "Hmm…an odd thing for him to mention…"

"Yeah…" Rey replied. "I'm surprised he even knows he's in a hospital…"

"Home…so far away…"

Mari frowned. Ryder's memories seemed to be of home, his own universe that they had heard so little of.

"Everything became real…" he muttered, his eyelids moving slightly as if dreaming.

"Huh?" Rika asked.

"He must be remembering when Digimon came to his world…" Takato noted.

Mari nodded unsurely, looking back to him.

"Arkadimon…"

Dr Imai looked at the boy curiously. He seemed to be recalling things to do with his 'own world', whatever that meant. Was this boy all he seemed?

"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!" Ryder yelled, eyes opening, as his fists clenched. Everyone, both adjacent to him and in the ward (who were conscious), looked around in surprise.

"Ryder?" Mari asked, looking to his glazed-over eyes.

"Hmm…" Dr Imai pondered, waving her hand over his eyes. "He's still unconscious…" she reported, as Ryder's eyes closed.

"You won't hurt us, not me, not Ivy, not any of my fellow Tamers!"

"Ivy?" Takato asked.

"Donmon, now!" Ryder called.

"Who's Ivy?" Rika asked.

Mari's eyes widened as she recalled some things that Ryder had said on the day they first met. _**"I've left everything behind. My fellow Tamers, my parents, my friends, and…her…"**_

"_**Was she a girlfriend?"**_ she had asked.

"_**I wish…Nope, just a crush…she was a Tamer though…"**_

'_Is that who he's talking about?'_

"An ultimate?" Ryder asked, before his face turned determined. "He escaped!"

"Something is really odd here…" Rika noted.

"Yeah…what do we do?" Takato asked.

"Nothing…it is probably impossible to wake him and it could cause him trauma at the moment…" Dr Imai noted. "I have other patients to attend to, are you okay here?"

"No place like home…" Ryder muttered.

"Yeah, we're fine…" Rey said, the doctor nodding and leaving.

"Did you call everyone else?" Mari asked, turning round to face Rika, who nodded.

"Yeah…not all of them are coming straight away though…some of them are either out of town or unable to get here until later…" she answered.

Takato gripped Rika's hand. "Are we going to tell them when they get here?"

Rika frowned, shaking her head. "I don't think I'm ready to tell them all yet…I guess we could tell our really close friends, Henry and Jeri mainly…"

Takato nodded. "Okay…"

"What's going on?"

"Is he asking us or is he talking again?" Rika asked.

"White light…too bright…"

"This must be when he was pulled into our universe…" Rey noted.

Ryder suddenly relaxed, his eyelids stopping their rapid movement. Mari frowned, it looked like his dream was over, and she was hoping to get more answers to her new questions.

"Hey, why has he still got his D-Vice on?" Takato asked, noticing the watch still strapped to the boy's wrist. "Why didn't the hospital guys take it off?"

Mari glanced down curiously, carefully trying to undo the strap on the device. "Huh…it won't budge…" she noted, finding no way of doing so. She looked to her wrist, and her own D-Vice, untying it with zero difficulty. "But…mine's not fixed like that…"

"Yeah, and I swear he's taken it off before…" Rika noted.

Rey looked to them. "The D-Vice is designed so that only it's owner can remove it…once removed, it is deactivated as well, only once it is back on the owner's wrist does it work again…" she noted, looking to her own. Mari glanced to hers, noting that its screen had become all but disabled. "It relies on the life of the user to work…"

Mari frowned, that only reminded her of Ryder, who she glanced over to again. His D-Vice was still operating as normal, showing the time. "His is still working…"

"Let's hope it stays that way…" Takato said. Mari nodded, looking over him again.

Rika's cell rung, and she lifted it to her ear, answering it while the others looked at her. "Rika here, who is it?" she asked.

Mari glanced back to Ryder, and the heart rate machine, fearful that they would both stop, as a passing doctor checked them. The bleeding had stopped, revealing his injuries in more detail. Mari frowned; it looked like even if he did recover, they'd take a long while to heal.

"Okay, we'll come to see you, should be only a minute or two…bye…"

Rika turned to Takato after hanging the phone up. "Henry, Jeri and Suzie are here…" she said, Takato nodding in response.

"Phones in hospital…no…" Ryder muttered, the others looking to him in confusion.

"I think he has some awareness…" Rey noted, looking to him. "Who knows what's going through his mind right now?"

Mari frowned, nodding. "Yeah…he has a point though…" Takato replied.

"Fine…" Rika answered, switching the offending device off. "Let's go then…" she said, standing up. Takato nodded, as did Rey, as they began to follow, before noticing Mari wasn't, as she continued to sit, contemplating.

"Are you coming?" Rey asked kindly.

Mari shook her head. "No…I just want to stay here…" she answered. Rey smiled in understanding, and nodded, as the three walked away.

A general silence descended on that corner of the room, broken only by muttering from the doctors passing through and the beeping of machines. Mari frowned, wishing that the day had just been a bad dream.

"Why Ryder? Why?" she asked.

No reply. Mari carefully placed her palm on the back of his hand gently.

"Why is it that I survive a building falling, and then you nearly get killed? Why do I have to have the luck?"

No reply, apart from a few glances across the room at her, by people who then frowned.

"…you're my closest friend in this world…I know I came on really strongly at first, but I was lonely…I was always lonely…and I know that without you…I'll always be lonely again…"

No reply.

"Please survive…" she said, gently gripping his hand. "Please…"

"95…52…63…42…29…" the boy muttered, the random numbers barely comprehensible. Mari frowned.

"I hope you're the same as well…the boy that I found so…intriguing…a boy who was so deep and mysterious and yet caring when he needed to be…a boy who wanted to make a name for himself, despite not existing…a boy who would care for me even when I felt like an outsider…who tried to comfort me…my Angel…"

"First Angel…Ryder Stevens…Second…Mari…Flynn…" the boy muttered, Mari saddened further by the fact that he couldn't even hear her properly "Fading…fading…stop…please…"

The beep of the heart rate machine slowed, as Mari looked up in alarm. "No!" she yelled, attracting the attention of doctors and nurses who promptly swung into action, her vision blurred as they passed around the boy. She stepped back unconsciously out of their way, her eyes glazed over, her hearing turning into a mess of unheard words and noises.

"Mari?" asked a new voice, concern mixed with kindness in its tones. "Mari?"

The second call snapped Mari out of her trance, as she turned to face Jeri, along with Henry, Suzie and the others, standing just outside.

"Are you okay?" Suzie asked, her own voice concerned as Lopmon sitting on her head looked on sadly.

Mari shook her head sadly. "I just…I just want him to be okay…"

"We'll try our best…" Dr Imai said, as she walked up to them, returning to her latest patient to help with stabilising him again, as she began to work.

"Thanks…" Mari said, almost soundlessly, as she watched them work.

"We should leave them to work…" Henry noted. "We're just in the way here…" he added.

Rika looked to Mari, who looked sadly on at the boy in the occasional view through the hospital staff. She nodded sadly. "Okay…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

This setting will actually turn out very useful for storytelling by the looks of it, and it'll allow me to show character emotions and interactions quite easily as they move about the hospital, which will make a good epilogue. It'll give a moment of reflection on each of the central (and some non-central) characters before the next book and the resuming of the more action-based storytelling. Please review. 

Next time…

Will Ryder ever wake up? Will Rika and Takato manage to tell Henry and Jeri?

Find out in 'Her Desperate Act', Chapter Seventeen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	17. Her Desperate Act

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

Okay, so it's not exactly an epilogue, but I think this is the best way to link Demons and Tricks, which have several events in between them that are far longer than could possibly be put into an Extra Dimensions story.

* * *

**CHAPTER 17**

_Her Desperate Act_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**12:32 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

"So he just…froze up?" Henry asked, hoping he had grasped what a saddened Mari was saying as they stood in the waiting room. Mari nodded in response.

"And then he was thrown into a building…by Mammothmon's trunk…" MiniDonmon, now sitting on her head, said sadly.

Jeri felt like she was going to be sick. She'd never liked seeing anything particularly bloody or gory, and from her glimpses of Ryder's form earlier, this was one of those things, with his left side majorly damaged from his leg to his head, concentrated in the centre, with bruising all over him. She felt particularly sick since it was her friend that had been injured, and was still in a coma, which could last for any length of time, and the longer it lasted, the less likely he'd ever wake up again. Even if he did murder someone the day before, this wasn't how she wanted anything to turn out. She wanted to help, but felt the same feeling of helplessness that everyone else around her was feeling, events slipping through their fingers without any way for them to grab. Jeri glanced around at her fellow Tamers.

Rika looked blankly to the ground as she leaned against a wall, Takato looking to her from where he sat nearby on a seat, himself in thought and conversation with Chaos. They had entered a game of waiting, one with an unclear end, if there were to be an end or not. Even Terriermon, normally one to put some enthusiasm on things (even if it was misplaced or mistimed in most cases) had stayed silent. Takato secretly wished he'd brought Guilmon, but at the same time he would be far too large to roam around a hospital like this. Guilmon was always able to cheer him up somehow though, and he felt like that was what he needed right now. A friend who was always able to get past things and return to happiness, without Calumon's extreme naivety that made him difficult to talk to.

Rey looked sadly to Mari, as the red-brown haired girl sat down on the seat, frowning as the partner of the black vixen looked to the ground.

"You okay?" Rey asked, moving her head forward to see Mari's face, covered slightly by her disrupted hair.

Mari shook her head. "No…not at all…" she answered despondently.

Rey looked to the ground, the dull light grey floor not exactly helping their moods as the fluorescent lights shone down on them. "I'm…I'm really not sure what to say…"

Jeri frowned, looking to Henry for some hint of guidance as to what they could do, but only receiving a gentle shake of the head in response. Terriermon, on the other hand, chirped away with his usual response. "Momentai…" he said.

"What does that mean again?" Mari asked, looking up at the dog-bunny.

"It means 'take it easy'…" Henry explained.

Mari frowned and looked to the floor again. That wasn't exactly reassuring.

"Oh man, we go to a theme park for one day and look what we miss!" complained a voice.

"That's not exactly appropriate…" another voice said.

"Oh great, people with even less tact than Terriermon…" Elecmon complained.

"That'll cheer us up for sure…" MiniDonmon added sarcastically.

Mari looked up, and around, to see Kazu, Kenta, Ryo and MarineAngemon entering. Takato noted the absence of both the older boy's partner, and the rust-coloured android of the loudmouthed one, but then again, Cyberdramon and Guardromon weren't exactly made for hospitals.

"Great, just what we needed to cheer up the mood of today…" Rika complained.

"Hey, we're not that bad!" Kazu argued.

"Yeah, it's just Kazu!" Kenta complained, yelling louder than his friend.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Kazu complained back.

"You're in a hospital, shut the hell up!" Rey complained, ironically shouting louder as she stood up to glare at the pair and making Kazu and Kenta wince back in fear.

"You're scarier than Rika…" Kazu commented.

"Come on you two, you're in a hospital, please be quiet…" Jeri pleaded.

"Jeri has a point; you're not exactly being sensitive…" Ryo added.

"Fine…" Kazu complained.

Rika stepped forward off the wall, glancing to the father of her child. "Goggles, I'm going to clear my head by getting away from these nutters…" she said, walking away down a corridor. Takato nodded in response.

"What's made her so uptight?" Ryo asked.

Takato frowned. The reason behind it was far more complicated than could be explained in a place like this, although even Takato couldn't be entirely sure. It was probably a combination of mood swings, the whole pregnancy thing, and seeing one of her friends in pain, or rather multiple friends.

Rey glanced to Rejimon. "I think the vending machine's still broken, can you get me a soda?" she asked, looking to her. Rejimon nodded, leaping forward, and bouncing away in a move that would either scare hospital staff or amaze them with the cuteness of it all. Rey looked back to Mari, who oddly hadn't actually cried yet, although her eyes had reddened.

Jeri frowned, saddened at seeing another of her friends in pain, and in this case, they were actually conscious to feel it. "It'll be okay…" she reassured, her words known to be empty. "I'm sure he'll make it through it all…"

"So what exactly happened?" Ryo asked, looking to Henry.

"He was hit by a Mammothmon's trunk into a building…" Terriermon summarised, taking Henry's place in the response and attempting to show what happened with his ears and small hands.

Ryo frowned. "I'm surprised he's still alive…"

"Yeah, I mean, I don't think many people could survive that…" Kazu noted. "I sure couldn't…"

"That's a big change to 'I can do anything'!" Elecmon noted, before ignoring Kazu's glare.

"Can we do anything?" Kenta asked. Takato shook his head.

"We're just playing the waiting game now…they're working on him at the moment I think…" he answered.

"I hope he's okay…" Kenta replied.

"Yeah, me too…I guess he took a lot of heat over what he did yesterday?" Ryo replied.

"Yeah, even from himself…" Jeri replied. "I guess…I guess we never really considered having to do something like this…"

"Yeah…" Kazu noted. "I'd probably be too scared to do that…"

"But are we going to have to do it again?" Takato asked.

"I hope not…" Jeri answered.

Mari looked to Rey, who had seemingly become transfixed by something on her D-Arc. "Maybe we can go back in there now?" she asked, more of a request than a query.

Rey looked up, before nodding. "Okay…we'll go have a look…" she answered, standing up and helping her friend up, unnecessary as it was. She took her hand, trying to smile to reassure her, but her own feelings were as fearful as those of the Second Angel.

Takato looked to his daughter; a subtle questioning going on between the pair before Rey lightly shook her head, gesturing for the others not to follow. That was the last thing Mari needed right now, as they walked away down the hallway.

* * *

**12:45 JST**

Rika, in a mix of sadness and anger, wasn't entirely sure where in the hospital she had ended up, as she wandered looking for something to occupy her time with. She had been thinking about everything, everything that had been thrown into their lives recently, be it the prospect of killing, the reality of injuries, or the prospect of a child, who they already knew the identity of. She knew Renamon was following her quietly behind, ensuring that she didn't wander into any dangerous situations, so that was not her concern at this particular moment.

She paused, looking around. She would need to find her way back to the waiting room at some point in the near future.

A strange form caught her eye, an oddly familiar form as she looked back down the corridor to see what could only be described as a small version of Kyubimon, its own eyes widening as it looked back, frozen like a deer in headlights.

She glanced over the form, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. The creature was clearly smaller than her own partner Kyubimon, as its mouth widened. It turned, beginning to run away, it's black and red neck ornament fluttering as its nine large yellow tails swished around, they dwarfing the creature's body. Its golden eyes were briefly displayed, red lines running underneath the slits.

Rika broke into a run, pacing after whatever it was. The creature glanced behind in fear, before its expression turned to be far more determined, and it leapt away down a hallway. Rika turned into the hallway and stopped, to see nothing but your bog-standard hospital hallway.

Renamon appeared next to her. "Rika, what were you chasing?"

Rika looked to her, not really sure whether she was seeing things or not. She shook her head. "Nothing, don't worry…"

She must have been going insane.

'_Stupid pregnancy…driving me nuts…'_

* * *

**12:46 JST**

A patient quaked in fear and shock as a purple imp and a white fairy leapt through their window, and began walking across to the door, ignoring them.

"Geez, why don't we get told about dese sorts of things anymore? I really need to get a cellphone…" Impmon mumbled, Calumon staying out of the complaining and simply being curious about his new surroundings.

"What is this place?" he asked, looking around as they stepped into a hallway.

"It's a hospital; it's where humans go to heal…"

"That's silly; can't they just heal on their own?"

"No, but that'd probably make things a helluva lot simpler…I've been here before, when Ai and Mako's mom broke her foot…"

Impmon stopped in surprise as he saw a small version of Kyubimon looking at him. Impmon blinked in surprise, as Calumon pulled on his mouth in curiosity.

The fox's eyes widened, and it turned running away. "Have to get away from them…" it said, in a female voice, as it darted into a corridor to the left.

"You know, I swear I just saw a miniature version of fox-face…" Impmon noted.

"Yeah…" Calumon added. "Where are we going?"

"Like I have a clue…"

* * *

**12:48 JST**

Dr Imai looked to Mari and Rey as they approached, frowning. The majority of the nurses who she had been assisting her had now gone onto other jobs.

Her eyes were drawn to the redness around Mari's eyes. Dr Imai knew that she couldn't promise anything to these people; it was one of the unwritten rules of being a doctor. She also had learnt to become more emotionally detached from the cases of death and major injury she encountered, simply in order to survive as a doctor. Seeing the misery that was being caused to these children, however, and being unable to do anything about it, she couldn't help but feel saddened by it all, as she glanced back to the boy's form. She then glanced down to her chart, nothing an all-too familiar acronym, CTD. Circling the drain.

His bleeding had been taken under control again, and his heart rate had stabilised, but the doctor knew they were working with borrowed time. These failures had become regular, all it would take was for one to be beyond their abilities and he would be lost.

She didn't plan to tell Mari and Rey that unless they inquired, the former looked like she couldn't take that sort of news.

"His heart rate has stabilised again…" Dr Imai reported. Rey nodded, while Mari walked past, to look at the boy. Further drips and wires had appeared in the interim, and his eyes were still closed.

"Is he still in a coma?" Mari asked.

"Yes, he has fallen into a deeper coma unfortunately…the talking appears to have been his memories repeating, it's unlikely to reoccur, although we really cannot be sure on anything at the moment…"

Mari placed her hand on Ryder's hand gently, before gently stroking her hand along his lower arm, noting his complete lack of reaction. She glanced to his dimly glowing D-Vice, its brightness fluctuating, never a good sign as she moved her hand to his wrist, pressing down and feeling his heart beating as the heart rate indicator indicated.

Rey and Dr Imai looked to her, not wanting to speak and interrupt. Even DarkRenamon stepped forth from her perception filter to watch. Mari frowned, before looking up to Dr Imai.

"He's going to die, isn't he?" she asked bluntly, a strange mix of determination and anger in her eyes, breaking the expectations of grief and sadness, or even hope. Dr Imai paused, she wasn't expecting this sort of response at all, and was unsure how to reply. Unfortunately, this pause was exactly what Mari didn't want, as she walked away, pacing faster and faster.

"Mari!" Rey called, lifting her hand, and pausing when Dr Imai put her hand out to stop her.

"I'm a doctor…I'll try to talk to her…" she advised. Rey nodded, as Dr Imai began to walk. Rey frowned, having no idea what she could do to help herself, and grateful that someone else was attempting, hoping that the professional nature of the doctor would help in her talking to Mari.

She turned to Ryder, frowning. "Are you happy now? You cause pain to Mari so many times…be it leaving, saying the wrong name, even obnoxious and unintentional things but…" she spoke, walking to the foot of his bed.

Rey paused, looking to his face, and smiling weakly.

"I can see why she likes you…and…" Rey glanced to her hand, noting it blink out of existence periodically. "…I guess my fate, your fate and Mari's fates are entwined, even if you don't have one…so…"

Rey walked alongside Ryder, grasping his hand, and noting his heart rate machine drop ten places.

"I'm willing to take some pain for this…heed my words, even if you can't hear them, I am going to be so pissed off at you if this doesn't work, so it better…" she said, looking to her hand, which began to glow.

Rey felt her eyes droop, the energy drain taking hold as Ryder's body glowed a gold hue. It wouldn't wake him up, but Rey sincerely hoped that it would at least bring an end to the chance for death, and give him a chance for recovery.

Rey collapsed to the ground, attracting the attention of a passing redhead who was to be her future mother. "What the hell?" Rika asked.

* * *

**12:50 JST**

"You okay Takato?" Jeri asked, glancing down to the boy who had been all but silent since Mari and Rey had left, seeming deep in thought. Henry had also been giving concerned glances, while Kazu and Kenta's emotions had been more of boredom. Ryo seemed himself in thought, and Suzie was saddened, as Lopmon sat on her head as she sat in one of the seats.

"Uh…yeah…" Takato replied glumly, looking up out of his thoughts.

"What's on your mind?" Henry asked, sitting on one side of Takato while Jeri sat on the other, Takato feeling a distinct impression of being boxed in. Terriermon and Elecmon's eyes beamed down on him, as he suddenly felt in the spotlight.

Were Rika here, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie and Ryo not, and the setting not being a drab, dreary, hospital waiting room, Takato would've felt that it was a perfect time to tell them about Rika's pregnancy. However, it was hardly an ideal time, so he decided to do what he did worst: bluffing.

"Nothing really…"

Henry frowned, it was clear that Takato was lying; no-one could pull that sort of true thinking expressions without actually thinking. Jeri cottoned onto the same thing, but neither were sure how to put this across.

"Liar…" Terriermon insinuated.

"Terriermon!" Henry complained.

"Hen, he's clearly thinking about something, his single brain-cell is working at capacity!"

Henry groaned, while Takato laughed nervously, hoping that something would interrupt this particular moment.

"So spill it!" Terriermon exclaimed, pointing a short black finger at Takato.

"Geez, what's going on here toots, the Spanish inquisition?"

"Who are you?"

"Is Ryder okay?"

Ask and you will receive. And, like buses, in this case three arrived at once. Takato, Henry, Jeri and a peeved Terriermon turned to face Impmon and Calumon having arrived in one corridor, Kristy and Kudamon from the main entrance, and a small version of Kyubimon with a black and red neck ornament and golden eyes in another, Suzie looking over it curiously.

The Kyubimon panicked, turning and beginning to run. Takato cocked an eyebrow, before standing up, eying his chance to escape this difficult moment.

"Hey, come back!" Takato called, pacing down the hallway.

"Jeri? Is Ryder okay?" Kristy asked, walking over to the rest.

"Yeah, I wanna know too..." Calumon asked.

"How did you two find out?" Henry asked curiously, looking to the Imp and the fairy.

"No thanks to you guys..." Impmon answered. "Calumon heard Jeri on the phone…it's getting pretty desperate when we have to spy on youse…"

"How are we meant to contact you?" Elecmon asked.

Impmon was about to object, before realising that he had no way to answer and simply 'hmph'ing.

"So…is Ryder okay?" Kristy asked, sick of the bickering about how they found out.

Jeri frowned. "I'm not sure…he was hit by an enraged Mammothmon into a building, so he's not looking that good either…"

Kristy's eyes widened. "No way!" she said in surprise. "I hope he survives…" she then said sadly.

Jeri bent down, noting Kristy's sadness and trying to comfort her, despite her own nagging doubts. "I'm sure he will…" she said to the girl. "We just have to hope he'll pull through, okay?"

Kristy frowned, nodding. "I hope he does…where are Sis and Takato?" she asked.

"Takato has gone chasing after…a miniature version of Kyubimon I think…and Rika is…somewhere in this hospital…"

"Oh…can I see Ryder?"

"Mari and Rey are visiting him now; he's unconscious so he isn't going to be able to talk to you…" Suzie explained. Kristy nodded sadly, sitting down on one of the seats.

"What was that Kyubimon wacko anyway?" Terriermon asked. "Did Renamon shrink or what?"

"I'm not sure…maybe Takato will find out…" Henry replied.

"Well, we could go looking for then?" Kenta mooted.

"Yeah, I'm bored stupid here!" Kazu complained.

Kristy groaned. "I understand why my sister hates you…" she muttered.

"Hey, it's not our fault, she just has issues!" Kazu complained.

"Yeah, we never did anything to her…" Kenta argued.

"Erm, guys, can we keep it down, we are in a hospital after all…" Ryo pleaded.

"Fine…" Kazu and Kristy said, crossing their arms. Jeri chuckled slightly at the sight, before looking to Henry.

"For once though, I think Kazu has a point…" she commented.

Terriermon faked a heart attack, rolling back off Henry's head. Henry groaned, picking his partner up by the ear.

"Henry, let me down!" he complained. "You're hurting my ear!"

Henry ignored his partner, looking round the group. "Okay, so we'll split up and look for them…"

"Right!" came the resounding, and oddly cheerful reply.

Terriermon 'hmph'ed', and attempted to cross his arms. _'WE'RE IN A HOSPITAL!' _he yelled in his head.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

So some more mysteries begin, as the hospital drama (of sorts) continues. Calumon and Impmon are back in the story, as are Kazu, Kenta and Ryo, so it's going to be interesting to see how it affects the flow, particularly when the Digidestined begin to arrive. Please review. 

Next time…

Is Rey okay? Will Ryder be okay? What's up with the chibi-Kyubimon?

Find out in 'Her Daughter', Chapter Eighteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	18. Her Daughter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 18**

_Her Daughter_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**12:55 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

"Mari?" DarkRenamon asked, materialising on the roof of the hospital. Mari leaned on the concrete barrier around the edge of the roof, the glum gray dull block not heightening her spirits at all. DarkRenamon walked over to her partner as she glanced up, displaying the few tears running down her face. "Are you okay?"

"No…I'm not…" Mari answered sadly, looking down to the streets below. "I've…I…I've never really felt like I've belonged anywhere since my parents died, and then there was Ryder, and I suddenly felt I had someone to belong nowhere alongside…and…I was happy…and then fate has to come and take that away from me…I would do anything to stop him dying…"

"Bargaining…" Dr Imai muttered, as she walked from the roof building across to the girl, frowning. The girl glanced up to her, sadly. "You're going through the five stages of grief…Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance…" she informed, standing next to the girl on the other side to her partner.

"Great, so there's a system now…" Mari muttered.

Dr Imai frowned, Mari was descending quickly into the next stage, and this was always a worrying one. Particularly since they were standing on a roof. She looked to the girl, considering her history. She acted so…out-of-place…like she was in a foreign world. She did seem American and hence a significant distance away from home, but she seemed far more out of her depth. Hospitals left most people out of their depth though, so her mood wasn't completely unexpected.

The girl's shoulder-length red-brown hair was ruffled by the gentle wind whipping across the rooftops, she wiping it away from her eyes as she continued to stare out glumly on the city, the one that it seemed that Ryder would die to protect, as he had always seemed to act. But he hadn't had to die to protect it, it had been but a mere twist of fate, a cruel show of destiny's true forces, despite its human (well, close enough) persona in Rey.

Dr Imai frowned, leaning on the same concrete barrier as the teenager and looking out on the city herself, the muffled sounds of cars and a thousand voices talking below.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand your situation…it probably has about a thousand things in it that you can't tell me for some reason or another but…I think…you just need to talk it all through with someone…I could arrange you grief counselling, but I think one of your friends would be a better option in your case…"

"Hmm…" Mari pondered sadly, looking to the older woman. "Who exactly?"

"I am not sure…"

Mari frowned, looking down at the road again, a small traffic jam building up. She glanced to the woman next to her, unsure whether she wanted an answer to her next question. "Dr…"

"Call me Fumiko, okay?"

Mari nodded, looking back to the woman. "Fumiko…be honest with me here…do you think he's going to survive?"

Dr Imai paused, considering how to respond. On the one hand, she could lie; tell her that she thinks he was going to survive, doubtless of the truth she knew from reading the chart, and from her own observations and experience. Ryder had taken not only torso damage, but also head trauma and he'd broken bones in his legs to boot. Even if he were to awake, he could've lost all his memories, or be in hospital for a few weeks yet until his injuries healed. Doubtless, she knew that upon leaving the hospital, he'd need crutches for at least a few weeks.

But…she had this girl's trust. Even despite her own doubts that she would take the news well, she knew that she couldn't break that, be the girl a patient or not. The girl looked curiously to her, nervousness also in her features, as Fumiko paused in thought.

"No…"

Mari frowned, looking back to the street. "Thanks…for the truth…" she said sadly, beginning to turn, before feeling something weigh down on her hand and pausing, looking back to the doctor.

"Mari…look…you really need to talk someone…because…you can have all the hope in the world he'll survive, and frankly, you're right to hope that…but…if that hope is crushed…you need someone there for you…"

Mari frowned, looking down to the concrete roof. "I thought I did…I had Ryder…but…you're right…I'm just not sure who to talk to…" she answered, turning to lean on the concrete wall facing the roof building, ignoring the slight pain as she pressed her palms into it. Fumiko turned to match, frowning. She'd only seen a small selection of Mari's friends, and she wasn't really sure who she would be best able to talk to.

Rika? No…she had her own problems right now, and she'd probably unfortunately end up making things worse, particularly with her mood swings.

Takato? Maybe, he did seem to be able to reassure Rika earlier on down in her surgery, but it could be too much to weigh on him, particularly since he would currently be preoccupied with thinking about his oncoming fatherhood.

Rey? She did seem somewhat close to Mari, but also seemed distant in the way they acted towards each other. Both seemed concerned about Ryder, and there was some connection between them.

One of the two who had arrived earlier before heading away when they begun the surgery? She hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to them, they had had to leave pretty soon after, and they suggested that Mari had a large group of friends. She hoped that at least one of them would be suitable for the girl to talk to about this matter.

She glanced to her side again, noting the black Kitsune standing respectfully nearby, watching intently the proceedings, a look of concern oddly irradiated from her green orbs. "Maybe your partner…"

Mari glanced up, looking to DarkRenamon, who frowned and shook her head.

"I'm afraid that I would not be an aid in this matter…it is not my area of experience…I will stand alongside Mari however…"

Fumiko nodded, as Mari smiled weakly to her partner, the best she could do considering her turbulent emotions. Mari turned to Fumiko. "Thanks…" she said respectfully, turning and walking back towards the roof building, the doctor watching.

A thought crossed the older woman's mind, and she caught Mari's attention. "Mari…" she said, the girl pausing and turning.

"Yes?" Mari asked.

"Probably not my place to pry, but who exactly is Ivy?" she asked, immediately regretting her question.

Mari frowned sadly, unfortunately reminded of another problem she would have to rectify if Ryder were to recover. "I honestly have no idea…" she replied. Dr Imai nodded, watching as DarkRenamon bowed in respect and followed her partner into the stairwell.

Dr Imai leaned on the concrete wall, sighing and looking to the sky. She'd had to deal with plenty of problems in her time as a doctor, but this was the most concerning, and somewhat mysterious one ever. Questions, from who is Ivy to why did Ryder freeze up crossed her mind, her stress not helped by having to think about Rika as well.

She stood up, frowning as she walked across to the roof building. She was a doctor, and she'd have to help in whatever way she could.

She only hoped she could help at all.

* * *

**13:05 JST**

"Huh?" Kari pondered, as they arrived in the waiting room.

"Where is everyone?" Davis asked, looking around, frowning.

"Yeah, we don't know where the room is…" Veemon complained.

"You think they'd leave someone behind to tell us where to go…" Gatomon complained.

"Maybe they just got distracted by something?" Kari suggested.

Davis nodded, looking to the various corridors leading away from the room. "Yeah…but where do we go to look for them?"

Kari paused, looking around with her hand on her chin, as the other three in their group did the same.

"That way!" they all called, pointing in completely different directions, before sweatdropping.

* * *

**13:07 JST**

Takato breathed deeply, his oddly fast pace still being no match for the fox, the only reason he'd been able to keep up so far being a flash of her (well, he presumed that, maybe it was a boy…or maybe Renamon had shrunk…he wasn't sure why though, but madder things had happened to them) yellow tails as she whipped into another corridor, or down a stairwell. She also seemed to have a habit of running into medical trolleys, only slightly missing them on occasional, but it was enough to give Takato difficulty while he avoided the fallen over trolleys with the surprised medical personnel.

The fox panicked; somehow this boy was managing to keep up with her. It was what she least expected, even with the fact he doubled up as Chaos, a constituent of a God. At this rate, she'd never get to apply her perception filter before he caught up on her, and this hospital was full of obstacles to boot. She had tried to lose him by turning a corner many times, but to no avail.

Takato frowned as the fox leapt to one side, into yet another corridor, quickly following after. "Hey, stop!" he yelled, pausing as he noticed that she had stopped, alongside the vending machine Chaos had broken, as she carefully picked up a can in her mouth. "Um…can we talk?" he asked, bending down and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

Fat load of good it did, as the Digimon turned and ran, Takato quickly pacing after, wondering periodically if chasing whatever it was was actually making the situation worse. He turned into another corridor, stopping as he recovered his breath. He frowned as the creature ran out of sight.

"She got away…" he complained, standing up again.

"Well done Gogglehead, you were beaten in a running race by a miniature version of my partner…" Rika noted, Takato noticing she was standing looking through a window nearby into another room, having turned her head only to face him.

"Well, both she and her clone _are_ very fast…unless that is Renamon…" Takato muttered.

"Takato, it's not Renamon…" Rika answered.

"Oh…who is she?" Takato asked.

"No idea…" Rika replied, frowning and turning to look back through the window. Takato wandered over to her.

"What are you looking at?"

"Well, Rey…fainted…"

"Huh? Why?"

"No idea, but she's got your uneasiness clearly…I've never fainted…"

"Really?"

"Okay, maybe once or twice, but that's besides the point…"

"Oh…"

Rika frowned, looking into the room where Rey lay unconscious on a bed, a single nurse checking a few things as she wandered around.

"Well…she did pick the right place…" Takato noted, Rika nodding as she continued to stare on at the girl. The striking resemblance between herself and Rey was clear enough, she was their daughter.

But at the same time, she just couldn't really conceive it. It felt far too surreal, beyond madness and insanity, to a complete and total dream world which even Takato, probably the person most with their head in the clouds she knew, couldn't conceive. And it was real; she was dealing with her real daughter who had fainted in a hospital in her own time before she had even been born.

"Is she really our daughter?" Rika asked, looking to Takato who paused at the question, before answering with the obvious answer, he clearly stumped by the oddity of the question.

"Yeah…"

"I mean, I know that she _is_ our daughter, but it just seems so strange…when she fainted, I really felt like I cared for her, and that is really strange, because that emotion came from nowhere…"

"Uh…huh…" Takato responded, unsure how to reply when he himself was still surprised by the prospect of fatherhood.

"Is this what parenthood is all about?"

"I have no idea Rika…I guess we'll…just find out as we go along…"

"Yeah, but I don't want to screw it up badly…"

"Well, looking at Rey, I'd like to bet that we don't, but I know what you mean…"

"Another thing worries me…she said that we had left her for a year because of this war…even in a war, what would make us desert our daughter?" Rika asked, frowning when Takato shrugged, unable to contemplate. Rika frowned, looking back into the room.

"Maybe it could be…no…I mean…we are Gods and all, maybe it's something we don't know about yet?" Takato mooted.

"Yeah, I guess…it's strange though, she said she'd been in a war, but at times, she seems so cheery…"

"Yeah, kinda like Jeri don't ya think?" Rika glanced to Takato curiously, nodding as she got his gist. "She is cheery, even with her experience with the D-Reaper…Kari too, even despite all of their adventures…"

"Yeah…maybe we're all doomed to lead lives like these…"

Takato looked to Rika, as a frown crossed her face. He put an arm round her, as she leaned into him and closed her eyes. "We can all change our destiny…" he comforted, pulling her close as her head rested on his neck.

Rika opened her eyes and looked to the floor below, sadly contemplating the truth. "Takato, you know yourself that the only ones here who can truly change things are currently both unconscious…"

Takato frowned himself, before looking back up through the window. "I don't care about that, no-one is telling me that I'm not real, or that I'm not free…" he said, an odd flash of determination crossing his eyes. "And even if we're not, what's to say we don't win 'The War' in the end? I mean, whatever we do face, we're Gods after all, like it'd be that hard to win in the end."

Rika nodded sagely, looking to the unconscious redhead once again. "Then why is she here?" she questioned, bringing up the question of why Rey had come to the past in the first place if they would win anyway.

Takato stayed silent, shrugging and pulling Rika into a comforting kiss as footsteps approached, pausing.

"Um…we'll come back…" a female voice said nervously, the pair glancing up to see Henry, Jeri and their partners, one of whom was currently preparing a joke.

"Do you want us to come back; we seem to be interrupting something?" Terriermon noted. "Unless you want to continue…it _is_ getting interesting if you're planning to do what I think you're doing…"

Henry sighed, Terriermon's research had yielded the pain of him having knowledge that he simply shouldn't have. He was about to complain, but he expected Rika to deal with Terriermon via her own methods first.

Surprisingly, this never happened, as Rika glanced to Takato, an invisible message running between the eyes of the couple.

"Um…Henry, Jeri, do you think there is somewhere more private we can talk?" Takato asked, as the couples faced one another again.

"With or without the bunny?" Henry asked, glancing up to his partner on his head.

"Hey, you can't get rid of me, I'm irreplaceable!"

Rika cracked her knuckles. "Good…" she muttered, Terriermon gulping in response.

* * *

**13:09 JST**

Ryo frowned as he walked up to his ever-eager partner, growling occasionally at an unknown source of aggravation. He frowned, Cyberdramon was always looking for a battle, even in the real world, and Monodramon always seemed temporary, always to be replaced by a forced digivolution back to his feral ultimate form.

'_Milleniummon's curse…'_ Ryo thought, as he looked up to his partner. "Cyberdramon, down!" he ordered, as the beast reluctantly sat down on the grassy verge outside the hospital. Real world or not, Cyberdramon was itching for a battle, and his attempts to track down a bioemergence the previous day had failed, at the same time missing any chance to participate in the battle back in Shinjuku, leading to one very angry Cyberdramon.

Ryo considered Ryder's actions of the previous day that he had been told about, and frowned. By the sounds of it, Cyberdramon would have a lot more to deal with sometime soon.

A miniature version of Kyubimon darted out of a fire escape nearby as Cyberdramon turned, growling towards it as Ryo looked on confused. Kyubimon was never that small, what was going on?

A look of fear crossed the fox's features, almost making it drop the soda can carried as it panicked and ran the other way, Cyberdramon about to follow before Ryo restrained him with an energy whip from his D-Arc.

"What did I tell you Cyberdramon?!" Ryo asked.

Cyberdramon growled, sitting down once again. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief, tinged with the fact that something really strange appeared to be going on here. What was that mini-Kyubimon thing?

* * *

**13:12 JST**

Suzie frowned, glancing to the sick and dying in rooms and the doctors and nurses either racing or pacing by them, the only tinge of happiness in the place being the sight of a newborn baby. She looked back to Kristy as they dodged a medical trolley, the rabbit Tamer catching up.

"Are you sure that this is really such a good idea? I think we're getting in the way…" Suzie asked the older girl, albeit only by a single year.

Kristy paused, turning to her. "Not really, but I don't have any better ideas…"

"It is likely that whatever it was could have fled the hospital by now…" Kudamon noted, formal as ever.

"Or it could be right behind you!" Lopmon exclaimed, pointing behind Kristy, the older girl turning and eyes widening.

The chibi-Kyubimon frowned once again; breathing a sigh of frustration through the soda can in its mouth, before turning and running once again.

"Hey, come back!" Kristy yelled, racing after.

"Hey, wait up!" Suzie called, quickly pursuing and trying her hardest to avoid all obstacles before running headfirst into Kristy, the pair of them and the person who Kristy had run into groaning and all collapsing to the ground, Kudamon and Lopmon falling down nearby

Kari breathed a sigh of annoyance as Davis rubbed his sore head, standing up. It was going to be one of those days.

"Hey, look where you're going!" Davis complained, as Kristy and Suzie stood up.

"Sorry…" Suzie apologised, Lopmon mouthing a similar sentiment.

"We were chasing this mini-Kyubimon thing, we were too distracted…" Kristy asserted.

"Huh? Mini-Kyubimon?" Kari asked, an eyebrow rising at the idea.

"Yeah…there's a chibi version of my sister's champion form running around this hospital!" Kristy answered. "And thanks to the dunderhead here, we've lost them!"

"You and Rika are so alike, it doesn't surprise me that you're sisters…" Gatomon noted. "Where did this chibi-Kyubi run anyway?" she asked.

"No idea, thanks to you…" Kristy complained.

"Everyone is looking for it at the moment…" Kudamon added, as he leapt back onto his partner's shoulders.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go catch it!" Davis cheered, Veemon cheering likewise.

"Davis, do you have any idea _how_ to find it in the first place?" Kari asked, her voice vexed.

"No, I just normally get lucky…" Davis answered.

"He does seem to have a knack for miracles…" Veemon added.

"What are we wasting time here for, let's at least keep looking…" Suzie suggested. Kari nodded.

"Right…"

* * *

**13:15 JST**

The Kyubimon frowned, as she continued to run. This was getting far too risky, she'd managed to meet far too many of them, and they were now all looking for her.

But a perception filter would be far too painful to maintain all the time. She had to figure out where she had gone. Then she could finally complete the task she had been assigned.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

It's really interesting stretching this all out, the way it is working allows me to explore things in far more detail as the plot progresses. Please review, and this is far more than just filler in the plot, trust me. 

Fumiko is the name of Ruki's voice actor in the original Japanese version of Digimon Tamers.

Next time…

What is this chibi-Kyubimon's assigned task? Will Takato and Rika ever cope with being parents? How will Henry and Jeri react to the truth?

Find out in 'His Princess', Chapter Nineteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	19. His Princess

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 19**

_His Princess_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**13:16 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

Rika glanced around at the rooftop, the concrete seeming dull and bland, and not really the best setting for telling a secret that could either have bad or good reactions from the couple near them. The sunlight beamed down on the concrete, heightening spirits slightly, as Takato glanced to Rika, an invisible message running between them.

"Stop doing that!" Terriermon complained.

"Stop doing what?" Takato asked, confused as he looked up to the dog-bunny.

"That whole couples' physic eyes thing, I want to be able to hear any juicy secrets!"

Henry groaned, as Rika glared at Terriermon, a warning that most people would take and shut up quickly. However, this particular bunny just dug a deeper grave for himself.

"Are you actually physic? I mean, you are pretty mental; I thought you might have gone the whole hog by now and become…"

"Terriermon, you are aware that you're just making things worse…" Elecmon noted.

"Am I?" Terriermon asked, before coming far more aware of Rika's glare.

"Not really a good idea to talk like that to someone who could blow you to pieces…" Henry warned.

"Yeah, but she'd hit you in that process…"

"I'm getting to the point where Henry would be a worthwhile sacrifice…" Rika said, in all seriousness.

Terriermon gulped, as Rika bounced a ball of energy in her hand. Henry laughed nervously, as did Takato, before Rika withdrew it, a collective sigh of relief rising up from the audience and targets.

'_Yeah, like I was actually going to do it…'_ Rika thought sarcastically, noting their relief.

'**Really? You weren't? Oh, that's a shame…'** Harmony complained, Rika groaning as she looked across to Henry and Jeri again, glancing to Takato on the way to check his reaction and whether he was prepared to tell them.

"So…what are you going to tell us?" Jeri asked curiously, getting back to the subject.

"I'm going to need some insurance on this one to make sure the bunny doesn't talk…" Rika asked, Terriermon suddenly feeling an over-obsession with keeping his vocal chords, or whatever the Digital equivalent was.

Henry nodded, as if he had done this before, looking to Rika. "Terriermon dresses up in the Princess Pretty Pants outfit for fun…" he revealed.

Takato would've spat out a drink if he had one, and Rika smiled menacingly, as Jeri giggled. Terriermon glared at his partner angrily.

"You swore you would never tell!"

"So you're not denying it then?" Renamon teased, dropping her perception filter and appearing alongside Rika.

Terriermon groaned. "It was only once!"

Henry glanced to Jeri, smiling and raising four fingers. Jeri smiled and nodded.

"Hey, I'm not blind!" Terriermon complained. "Traitor!"

Jeri giggled as Henry's partner was knocked off his perch by a single ice shard comically, as Rika smiled to Renamon.

"I owe you one Renamon…" she said.

Renamon smiled, nodding. "The current tone of this talk isn't exactly suitable for the subject you intend to talk about, and so I decided to remove the perpetrator…"

Terriermon stood up, waving his fist in anger. "I thought we were allies!" he argued.

"I thought Rabbits in Japanese tradition lived on the moon, but clearly they don't…unless you are offering to be the first?" Renamon taunted.

Terriermon scoffed. "Your darker cousin is far more polite than you…hotter too…"

"O…kay…" Takato said, breaking the long silence that broke out as everyone started to stare blankly at Terriermon. "Thanks for that…" he added nervously, turning to Rika in an attempt to get back on topic.

Rika breathed deeply, psyching herself up for what she was about to impart, and considering their reactions, as she nodded to Takato.

"Look…the reason we want to talk to you is because of something…well…it's something really big…" she began.

Takato nodded. "Yeah, and I'm still surprised at it myself, so don't think you're alone in not coming to terms with things straight away if you have difficulty with this…" he reassured the other couple.

"Why, what is it?" Jeri asked.

Rika gripped Takato's hand, the boy holding back his pain from the vice-like grip she had taken on him in his nervousness. Takato tried to smile his 'everything will be alright' smile, but it came out more like a damp squib, as Rika looked to him for confidence, before looking back to the observers, by now stumped by what could possibly be so major that Rika of all people would need to prep herself up for it, and even need support in doing so from Takato, hardly the most confident member of their team.

Rika swallowed a lump in her throat, looking at those eagerly awaiting her words.

Henry, the cautious thinker who would always consider things before rushing in, and didn't want to see his friends hurt, up to and including refusing to fight, until he was taught otherwise by his partner.

Terriermon, the quick-talking smart-alec with a sense of humour crushing any attempt at a sense of tactfulness, but who occasionally shows brief shows of humanity and sense, and even brilliance.

Jeri, the cheerful, giggling girl who seemed to care for all regardless of who they were, and yet at the same time had a darker past she tried to forget, shunning attempts to talk about it in some circumstances.

Elecmon, the rookie form of the proud Lion who felt guilty for being unable to protect Jeri all the time in the past, even to the point where he became so over-protective of her that he forgot the human world's taboos, such as not to enter a room when someone is changing.

Harmony's observations in the past were surprisingly apt, and Rika knew that, as she herself had said, everyone has their secrets, and she had to impart hers.

"I'm pregnant…"

A pin prick could be heard to drop in the silence that followed, as mouths gaped wide, their observers glancing between both her and the brunette standing next to her, trying to comprehend what they had been told. Even Terriermon, one usually to make the first move in terms of talking, normally with a witty remark, was speechless.

'_Am I hearing things?'_ Elecmon thought.

'_This…is…huge…'_ Terriermon thought, the chance to tease far beyond what he had ever had before, and yet he also had the blackmail fear of his strangest secret.

'_Okay, I didn't expect that…'_ Henry thought.

'_No…way…Rika…Takato…couldn't be…what…but…sixteen…'_ Jeri thought, expressing her thoughts into words. "No…way…"

"Are you serious?" Henry asked, flabbergasted by the revelation. Takato nodded, feeling nervous under the glaring spotlight of his closest friends. Even Rika was cracking under the pressure, as Takato bit his lip against the pain of Rika crushing his hand.

"But when…where… why…what…how…" Jeri began, running through a series of question words in a vain attempt to get anywhere in her comprehension.

"Five weeks ago, New York, it was my idea, we had sex, and I'm not going into the specifics of how, are the answers to each of your questions…" Rika answered, weakly smiling and hoping that she hadn't come across as being too blunt.

'**Hmm, Terriermon hasn't fainted yet…pity…'**

Rika ignored her alter-egos disappointment, despite it matching her own, and waited for something…well, anything at all really, to break the long silence that had descended.

"Um…how long have you known?" Jeri asked, not really sure how to respond to this news.

"I learnt about it yesterday morning, and Takato found out about it in the evening…and then he fainted, typically…"

Takato nodded, before looking to Terriermon again, slightly disappointed that he hadn't fainted, as the dog-bunny caught his attention. "So where's the egg?"

"The…egg?" Takato asked, confused, as everyone but Henry looked to Terriermon in equal conclusion, the blue-haired Tamer himself simply groaning.

"Yeah, the egg…" Terriermon continued to ask, uncertainty appearing in his voice as he noticed the bewildered looks towards him.

"Terriermon, you really should've checked your research…" Henry noted, Terriermon looking up.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Terriermon asked.

"Humans…carry the baby inside them until they are born…" Jeri explained.

"What? That's a stupid way to do things…" Terriermon complained.

Henry groaned, Rika doing likewise as she began to once again glare at Terriermon, vexation now dominating her emotions. Renamon noticed, and looked to her partner.

"Shall I knock him out?" she asked.

A thought crossed Rika's mind as she faced Renamon, Terriermon gulping all the while.

"No, I have a better idea…" Rika answered, looking to Terriermon, who uneasily returned the look.

Takato and Jeri watched the redhead advance on the boy and his bunny, her glare not leaving the bunny's black eyes as nervousness filled them.

Rika suddenly stopped, smiling. "Rey's my daughter…" she said, Terriermon, Henry, Jeri and Elecmon pausing in surprise, as Terriermon fainted, Rika breathing a sigh of relief.

"**Finally…"** Chaos remarked as Terriermon thudded to the floor. Henry looked down at his unconscious partner unsurely, before looking back to the redhead and the Gogglehead.

"What do you mean?" Elecmon asked in surprise, not really comprehending what Rika had said until he saw Terriermon's reaction.

"Rey came back in time…she's our future daughter…" Takato explained, surprising the other couple further, as the clarification came through.

Henry's eyes widened, as he comprehended all the hints, Jeri doing likewise before covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

"But…no way!" Jeri replied.

"Yeah, but it's true…" Rika affirmed. _'Even if I don't believe it myself…I mean…how can she really be my daughter?_' Rika's eyes glossed over as concern gripped her heart and she frowned, unconsciously placing her hand on her belly. _'How could I ever be a mother?'_

Takato noticed Rika's hesitation, and her gazing off into space, and frowned, considering what she could be thinking about. There were a number of things that right now could make her gaze off into space and frown like that, but it was clear what it was. He decided to continue the explanations to the other couple. "She came back to prevent something happening, I've no idea what though…" he said, attracting attention away from his girlfriend.

"Hmm…odd…" Jeri noted. "Must be something pretty big to mess around with time like that…"

Takato nodded, glancing to Rika again, she having now come back from her momentary trance. _'I wonder what could possibly be that big…'_

The door to the roof building suddenly exploded, blown off its hinges by a burst of fire. Those on the roof turned in surprise to face the source of the noise, as smoke billowed outwards and the door clanged to the ground.

A shadowed figure stepping through the flames and smoke, anger and determination dominating its voice, as it spat out each word, pausing only to drop a can of soda. "Where…is…Rey?!" it asked, Takato's eyes widening at the chibi-Kyubimon, growling through clenched teeth as her golden eyes glared hauntingly at them.

* * *

**13:16 JST**

Tai yawned, stepping through the doors of the hospital and into the waiting room, Agumon following along with Sora, Matt, Izzy and partners, as the glumness of the hospital's fluorescent lights and dull walls instantly hit.

"It's one o'clock Tai…" Matt noted. "How can you be tired?" he asked.

"A combination of having to stay awake in lectures and staying up late on the internet…" he answered, grinning.

Sora groaned. "He's telling the truth, I'm expecting him to completely forget to go to sleep at all any night now…"

Izzy chuckled, looking around the room. "So where are we going then?" he asked, not familiar with this particular hospital (although then again, very few people become aware of the layout of anything but their local hospital, if that).

Tai paused, looking to Matt, before he shrugged, the pair then looking to Sora, who sighed in frustration. "It's going to be one of those days…"

* * *

**13:18 JST**

Mari stared at the ground sadly, occasionally glancing back to the boy still unconscious in the bed. The dull light in the room, more of an emotion rather than a light, had 'descended' once again to match her mood. Mari heard nothing but the weak breathing of the boy and the bleeps of the machine as the green wave ran up and down, projecting his heart rate for the doctors to see. She had expected someone to have come to move her by now, visitors not particularly wanted in an ICU, but no-one had come.

She put it down to Dr Imai, and silently thanked her for it, as the glossed white speckled floor flashed in and out as people passed and were slightly reflected in it. The all pervading lights prevented the girl from even attempting to sleep, as it kept her awake even through closed eyelids. The fact that Ryder slept through it all saddened her further, he was so deep into his coma that nothing could wake him.

She frowned sadly, holding back the unrelenting urge for tears as she placed her hand on his. A faint heat radiated from it, but it was otherwise cold to the touch. She gripped it, feeling the sharp contrast between her heat and his, as she ran her hand along his arm, being careful so as not to damage the bruises and gaps further.

She stood up blankly, before standing over him and looking at his face, his eyes still closed and unmoving. She silently wished that he would start talking again, even if it was about Ivy.

Who was she anyway? Mari had never really been told anything about her, she'd avoided asking, and Ryder had never really gone into details. He seemed to hold back on the details of his previous life, was that his greatest secret?

Did he really fight Arkadimon, or was something far deeper going on here?

She shook her head, she was being distrusting, and Ryder had mentioned Arkadimon when reminiscing in unconsciousness, when he would've been unable to lie.

But still…she'd assumed that he'd put all his past behind him when they'd started to live together, Ryder's entire life now seemed to revolve around her, his bat-like partner, and their friends. But…was he really seeing her when he looked at her, or was he seeing someone else?

She felt anger creep up on her, and pushed it back. She was leaping to assumptions, something she had learnt while at SDCO never to do. An assumption could leave hundreds dead through a bad move. They had had to deal with Digimon daily, thankfully normally rookies and weak champions, nothing too far beyond what SDCO could deal with, although it was always tough. Several times they had been close to the public eye, but had kept it under wraps. Even her own parents' deaths.

She frowned. She'd been attracted to Ryder at first through association; they had both lost everything and were looking for something, or rather someone. She'd left him confused at first by how quickly she'd come on, something she still cursed herself for.

But…as time had gone on, she'd felt other feelings, far stronger ones, dominated by that large unexplainable ether known as love, sided by amazement and curiosity about this particular boy, and the way that he cared for her in return. Were they both metaphorically clinging to each other, both of them lonely souls looking for someone to love?

She smiled weakly; she was becoming a bit overly dramatic in her musings. She gently stroked his cheek with her hand, thankful to feel that it was warmer than his limbs, heat decreasing in his extremities. She was quietly surprised he was still alive now, although not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She ran her hand along his forehead and through his shortish brown hair, gently trying to avoid moving him too much. She frowned; his face was paling as his heart rate gradually decreased. She knew he wouldn't last that much longer, as she bent over and kissed him on the lips, having a strange feeling like she was kissing a dead person as she pulled away slowly, looking at him again. She glanced across to his D-Vice, still active but fading in and out occasionally.

She looked to the foot of the bed, to his sleeping partner, affected by his Tamer's weakness, particularly since the pair was so close. She wondered how the bat would cope once…if…his partner passed away. She contemplated whether he would prefer to be in his rookie or in-training form for the rest of his life, unsure whether he could control his levels himself or whether he required Ryder's D-Vice to do so. Her limited battle experience told her nothing, as she noticed DarkRenamon looking sadly at her fellow Digimon, as the black Kitsune stood silently in the corner of the hospital room.

Her eyes met her partners, as DarkRenamon frowned, Mari noting her partner's literal distance from the hospital bed and its two users. DarkRenamon preferred to stay subtle wherever she went, and tended to be most open only to Mari, and anyone else who she felt a debt towards was at least given some emotions. It wasn't particularly her fault, her past and her physical appearance caused her to hide her emotions, Mari having learnt somewhat to tell based on the position of DarkRenamon's eyes, what could be seen of her mouth, her stance and oddly, her ears and how they twitched, along with naturally her tail which gently swished from side to side.

"…_you…Mari?"_ Mari heard in her head, in DarkRenamon's voice. Mari frowned furthermore; their attempts at establishing a telepathic link, despite having spent time attempting to do so the previous day, were going to take a lot of time, currently messages being chopped up at best, incomprehensible or muted at worst.

Mari shook her head. "It will take a long while to get this working I think…" the girl said. DarkRenamon looked down sadly, before moving her green orbs back to her partner. "Don't worry, we'll manage it…I'm sure we will…"

DarkRenamon nodded. "Are you alright Mari?" she asked, repeating the message she had attempted earlier, this time in a verbal form.

"No…I'm really not sure what to do…who should I talk to?" she asked.

DarkRenamon looked up and through several adjacent windows into another room with her trained eyes, where she saw Rey sleeping peacefully. She frowned; Mari had noticed the girl's new unconscious state on the way back from the roof, and this left her with no ideas left of who to talk to. "I am unsure…I wish I could help you…" she said, looking down to the floor regretfully. Mari stepped forward, stroking her hand gently across the side of the fox's head.

"That's okay…" she reassured. "You help in your own way…I feel so safe…you watch over me always…like a guardian Angel…"

DarkRenamon smiled, looking to her partner. "Ironically, since you are the Angel here…" she said, Mari nodding and smiling weakly, before looking back to the boy in the bed.

"So why can't I do anything?" she asked, walking back to the bed, this time on the other side to before, and running her hand along his arm gently. "I have seen it in the others eyes too, a sense of helplessness…we should be powerful, we should be able to stop this…but we can't…and I feel pathetic DarkRenamon…my lover, my best friend, my leader, is dying, and I can't do anything…" she said glumly, tears breaking from her ducts. DarkRenamon stepped up to her partner, unsurely putting her arms around her and wiping her tears with her tail. The move was somewhat inaccurate since Mari then ended up wiping her slightly sore eyes from where the fur had touched them, although the tears themselves added to the soreness.

"You have done everything you can…you are by his side and I am so proud of you for it…and I think he would be too…" the vixen said, Mari feeling odd about her partner's proximity to her. She nodded, noting DarkRenamon's extremes of closeness, from keeping a fair distance to Mari being able to feel her partner's breathing on her neck. She would need to work with the Kitsune to find a happy medium, DarkRenamon had only been on earth for a few weeks after all, and this civilisation had so many complex rules that meant most Digimon couldn't help but be confused by them. Some ignored the unwritten rules, while others were overcautious to avoid straying over them. DarkRenamon stepped away as her ears twitched in reaction to a faint sound. Mari turned around to see DarkRenamon had moved to look through the door, looking back to her and nodding to reassure her.

Tai, Sora, Matt and Izzy arrived and greeted Mari and her partner, looking saddened as their eyes met the boy on the bed and his sleeping partner. "He must have taken a pretty big hit…" Tai noted.

"Yeah…" Matt added despondently.

"Is he in a coma?" Izzy asked, noting the boys only slight movements and complete lack of notice of their presence in the room.

Mari nodded, looking down again at the boy. Sora stepped up to the girl to comfort her in her sadness. "I'm sure he'll be okay…" she reassured. Mari nodded, knowing her gesture was empty. The chances grew slimmer by the hour; Ryder's body had seemingly fallen into terminal shutdown. Medical methods could only hold it off for so long.

She glanced to the heart-rate machine, noting it drop down a beat, something which happened occasionally as she watched it, gradually reducing to his eventual fate.

She'd never felt as helpless as she did then.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

I'm really proud of this writing of this part of the story, so many emotions to put in from simultaneous events, and leading up to the explosive and emotionally-impacting Book Six, which will also be interesting to write. Please review. 

Next time…

Will chibi-Kyubimon manage to hunt down Rey? Will Ryder ever recover? Was what Rey did for naught?

Find out in 'Her Continued Secrets', Chapter Twenty of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	20. Her Continued Secrets

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 20**

_Her Continued Secrets_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**13:27 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

Flames crackled as they shrank, the smell of burning metal filling the air as the smoke rose to the sky. The chibi-Kyubimon scowled, vexation and irritation crossing its features as those standing on the rooftop looked at her, trying to figure out what to do.

'_Is she hunting down Rey? I can't tell her where Rey is if that's what's going on…' _Rika thought worriedly.

"Um…who are you?" Jeri asked nervously, the golden eyes of the fox moving up to look into the amber eyes of the girl, as a look of thought crossed the creature's Taijitu-less face, an odd difference to the Kyubimon they knew as Rika's partner, albeit the Taijitu marks remaining on its body elsewhere. Its golden eyes narrowed, the red lines below pressed closer to them, as it answered.

"That is none of your concern" the Digimon answered, as Jeri raised her D-Arc, Elecmon refining his eyes to highlight the fox.

A look of annoyance crossed the girl's features, as nothing but what Elecmon could see came up on the holographic screen. "There's no data…" she noted, shaking the device lightly. Rika frowned, as Renamon stepped forward.

"Why do you look like my champion form, yet you are far smaller and with minor differences?" she asked, an inquisitive tone in her voice as she tried to avoid the creature deciding to leave.

The Digimon briefly glanced to Renamon, before looking back forward. "I have said, it is none of your concern, and if you will not help me, I'll go and find her myself…" she answered, turning and walking towards the door, pausing briefly to pick up the soda can.

"How do you know Rey?" Takato asked, causing the digimon to turn, a mischievous look on her face.

"Oh, we go way back, but I'm getting my revenge…" she said menacingly, turning and quickly darting down the stairs.

"Come back!" Jeri called. Takato leapt forward, breaking into 'running mode' once again as he paced after the fox, Renamon following promptly after.

'_If she's going to hurt Rey, I'm going to stop her!'_ Takato thought defiantly.

* * *

**13:32 JST**

"Welcome to Shinjuku General Hospital, the happiest place on earth" Yolei said sarcastically as she stepped through the doors, partner following and Ken at her side with his insect-like partner on his shoulder, Cody, Joe, Mimi and TK, along with their assorted partners, following.

"I wonder where we've got to go" Cody thought out loud, as they entered the waiting room area, some of the staff looking up periodically at the Digimon. Then again, Digimon hadn't exactly been a rare occurrence for the hospital that day, with some reports of them wandering the hallways, and hassling staff.

"These places are so depressing" Mimi noted.

"Maybe they could paint the walls bright colours?" Palmon suggested.

"That'd be horrible on the eyes" Ken noted.

TK nodded. "You said it, a touch of colour is one thing but by the sounds of it you want to chuck a whole paint truck through here"

"It was just a suggestion" Mimi answered.

"I thought we were here to see Ryder, not to bicker about painting the walls, ugly as they may be" Hawkmon noted. Yolei nodded.

"Yeah, Hawkmon's right, but where do we go?" TK asked.

"Hmm, I spend every single day in a hospital; you'd think I would have learnt how they are laid out by now?" Joe commented, looking down the corridors.

"Better figure it out soon Joe or we're stuck in here forever" Gomamon replied.

Cody stepped up to a wall sign, glancing through the names of the departments as he looked for something relevant, pausing and shivering slightly when he got to the ICU, the Intensive Care Unit.

"What's wrong Cody?" his armadillo-like partner asked, noting his partner's angst.

"The last time I went to an ICU is when my father died…he wasn't even there for that long in the end…" he said sadly, causing frowns amongst the group.

"Hey, cheer up Cody, no one is going to die this time around, I'm sure of it" Yolei reassured. Cody nodded, while Joe frowned, knowing that her words meant nothing in terms of Ryder's condition.

'_From what I've heard and my medical knowledge, I wouldn't be so sure of his chances…'_ he thought.

"So do you think they'll be in the ICU?" Mimi asked, looking towards Cody, who nodded. Joe equally nodded.

"By the sounds of his injuries, they would've taken him to the ICU straight away" he noted.

"Then let's get moving!" Gomamon cheered.

* * *

**13:35 JST**

The fox-like Digimon groaned, coming to a stop in a corridor and smelling the grim smell of a hospital, a stench of sickness and cleaning products combined. The muttering of people and moaning of pain continued as footsteps drew quickly up on her, causing her to turn to face the approaching figure. She narrowed her eyes at the approaching Gogglehead, vexed by the fact that he was catching up on her once again.

Her vexation increased as her champion level counterpart, albeit in her rookie form, appeared alongside the boy, as determined as he was.

"Wait!" Takato said, coming to a stop and looking down towards the chibi-Kyubimon. "Can we talk?" he asked. The fox frowned, looking aside to Renamon, a glance going between the similar pair, as thoughts occurred to the smaller one.

"Only if you're willing to show me where Rey is…" she answered, Takato frowning.

"We will not show you to her if you are going to hurt her" Renamon replied.

"I have no plans to hurt her…" the digimon replied. "…but I will get payback…" she added.

Takato paused to think, looking at the Digimon, and considering what she was saying. "Can we trust you?" he asked.

"Not my problem" the fox answered.

Renamon frowned, looking to her Tamer's lover, who looked back to her bewildered, before she spoke. "Takato, what do you want to do?" she asked, noting that if her counterpart were to attack, she would have to defend Takato, unless he were to use his powers of Chaos. She had no idea what this other Digimon could do, she looked like a rookie, but she could be anything. The fact she was looking for Rey, a person who few knew to exist, was an indication of this, plus her power when taking down the door earlier. She had clearly been trained in battle to be able to summon up such power easily to take down a door with such ease, and this concerned Renamon. She disliked unknown opponents in her battles, Guilmon being a clear example of one. Bundling through the dust and having teeth bite into her gloved paw was not how she intended her battles to run, particularly back then when Rika insisted on her permanently having the upper hand.

Battles since then had taught her that control over events was never certain. Ryder's latest battle was proof of that, even if he did freeze up of his own accord. Whatever had made him do that, it could be a problem that they would have to deal with. She had noticed the problems stacking up lately, be it Rika's pregnancy or the Demons, their new foes who they knew so little about. Taiki had merely been destructive, but by the sounds of it, these Demons were likely to have a variety of powers, particularly if they were similar yet opposite to the Angels.

Takato frowned, looking back to the smaller fox, and thinking. "Okay…but one wrong move…"

"Relax…" the Digimon answered. "…I only have one move I intend to do…" she added, walking past Takato and Renamon, and along the hallway, before pausing and turning. "So, where is she?" she asked, vexed that the human and Digimon hadn't yet followed.

Takato sighed, as he gestured that he would show the way. This was getting very complicated.

* * *

**13:39 JST**

Mari once again had the room to herself, excepting her near-ever present partner, who stood silently watching once again. Tai and the others had gone to look for everyone else, after a limited conversation. Mari had explained what had happened, but details were still sketchy about Ryder's condition, and she didn't want to let them in on her inner realisation that he simply couldn't pull out of it.

She looked up from the dull speckled floor at the heart rate monitor, as it dropped another place, a common practice it had done for all the time she had sat in the room. She frowned; the display was inching closer and closer to Ryder's fate.

So much she wanted to talk about, so many answers that she would never learn. What was the truth about Ryder's world? Who was Ivy? Even things about the Angels, and how they worked. She presumed that with Ryder gone, she would be the new leader, but the thought didn't bring her any happiness. How could she lead the group after losing him? She'd only learnt of her Angelhood the previous day, how could she cope with being propelled suddenly to leadership?

Rey would be a far better, if absentee, leader than her. But she couldn't be trusted on to be there, and so she could never be a true leader. Kristy was completely out of the question, she didn't even know she was an Angel yet, oddly not noticing despite her necklace being identical to those of the other Angels. Rey was still playing her hand in Destiny clearly.

A faster beeping reached her ears, as she opened her eyes wide and looked up at the machine, the number suddenly and rapidly paling away. She stood up in surprise as the beeps sped up, the number dropping back towards zero.

"No…" she said weakly, facing the fact that this was it. Ryder was going to die. A tear dripped from her duct, splattering over the floor as it was followed by others.

* * *

**13:39 JST**

Takato arrived at Rey's hospital room, the fox-like Digimon walking ahead of him. Rey still lay unconscious, looking innocent in her sleep, a look similar to what Takato had seen in Rika several times. Renamon warily watched as the Digimon walked forward through the room, a particularly large one with two other spare beds in it to either side of Rey's one. Gentle breathing from Rey could be heard at the edge of Takato's hearing, as he and Renamon stepped forward closer to the bed.

The Digimon glanced back to them, her golden eyes glinting, as she suddenly leapt onto the bed, carelessly walking over the sheets that covered Rey's form.

'_What is she doing?'_ Takato and Renamon both thought. Renamon prepared herself to act quickly, while Takato glanced to his side to her, noticing Rika, Henry and Jeri, along with their partners (and a waking up Terriermon), arriving behind them at the entrance to the room, looking curiously and with concern at the events taking place.

The digimon opened her mouth, unceremoniously dropping the can on Rey, it rolling aside as she glared at Rey's eyelids.

"Rey, wake the hell up!" she complained, stepping forward and stroking its tails across the girl's face, as she murmured, her eyes slowly opening to look up at the fox.

'_Great, how are we going to explain this?'_ Takato thought, worried about Rey's reaction.

Rey moaned, stretching herself out, as she opened her eyes fully. She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Realmon, you seriously need to stop sticking your tails up my nose"

The fox growled in vexation. "I got your drink, aren't you happy?" she answered, glancing across to the can nearby, Rey following her glance and nodding, before smiling teasingly at the fox.

"You're not normally this grumpy…"

"Where the hell did you go? I looked everywhere for you!" Realmon complained.

"I fainted, so sue me"

"Why did you faint?" Rika asked, stepping forward in annoyance. She was sick to the back teeth of the secrets from Rey, be it her identity, her cause for going back in time, or information that could help them in battles. Rey had to start telling the truth if they were truly going to be parent and child, even if they were currently the same age.

Rey sat up, glancing across the room at the others, noticing their presence for the first time, before sighing in annoyance. "Realmon, you really need to learn how to be secret" she said.

"Sorry. Now just drink your soda!" Realmon answered in annoyance, grabbing the can with one of her tails and passing it to Rey. "You made me wander around the hospital to get it, and then you vanish!"

Rey chuckled, stroking the Digimon's head. "Sorry…" she said, smiling to the Digimon.

"Rey, answer my question!" Rika argued. "Why did you faint?"

Rey looked across to her mother, trying to keep eye contact with her but failing as she looked behind her, her expression on her mouth drooping. "No reason…I just fainted."

"Stop lying to me!" Rika argued, Rey looking into her determined eyes. Takato looked to her curiously, about to put his hand on her shoulder but stopping beforehand. "I'm so sick of all this crap, I thought we were through with that, but it turns out that we aren't…" she continued, her glare penetrating through Rey's eyes, causing her to break from the gaze once again, looking aside.

"I'm…sorry…" she said. "I don't know what to say…I just fainted, that's all" she said sadly, pulling her best attempt at getting sympathy.

"I think she's telling the truth…" Jeri noted. Rika frowned, about to continue arguing, but pulling herself back from her complaint. Rey inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, as she turned and stood up, noting a hospital gown had been placed over her clothes at some point. She lifted the can with her, looking across to the others, noting Henry, Terriermon, Jeri and Elecmon carefully inspecting her before glancing, to her parents, clearly noting the similarities.

"So…you're really…" Henry began, Rey nodding to pause him in his talk before other unknowing ears could hear. "Wow…" he replaced his sentence with, as Terriermon leapt off of his partners head, grinning.

"So that explains why you can be angry and a dreamer at the same time…" he mooted, not noting Rika and Rey's glares, and Takato's frown. "It all finally makes sense!" Terriermon cheered.

"Terriermon, shut up or I'll shove a soda can down your throat!" Rey complained, clicking open the can, which suddenly burst in a spray of foam, Realmon grinning as Rey looked on with widened eyes as her face was covered in it. Terriermon burst into laughter, and even Renamon smiled, as Rey glared on in annoyance.

"Payback…" she joked. "Do you really think that I could carry a can around the hospital like I did without it being all shaken up?" she added.

"That wasn't very funny!"

Realmon laughed, as Jeri looked on curiously. "One question remains, who are you?" she asked, looking to the digimon that she had heard referred to as Realmon. Realmon and Rey looked to the girl, Rey smiling.

"Rey and Realmon, the ultimate time travelling duo!" she joked, Realmon pulling a face that looked determined, yet the whole act coming off as even cheesier than one of Davis' usual lines as Rey pulled a V sign.

"So she's your partner?" Henry asked, Rey nodding as she broke from her pose.

"Yeah, it's no secret anymore; this is Rejimon's rookie form Realmon" she explained, holding out her D-Vice as the stats flashed up. "Realmon, Vaccine Type, Rookie Level, her attacks are Inferno Spheres and Dragon Revolution!"

"Wow, she'd be cool if it weren't for the fact that she looks like a chibi-version of Kyubimon" Terriermon noted.

Renamon raised an eyebrow as her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

'_Please don't dig yourself a deeper grave Terriermon…' _Henry pleaded, knowing it was a worthless cause.

"I'm just saying that Youkomon is much cooler and looks better too, the whole dark thing really looks good!" he explained, confused looks and glares following.

Rey smiled, amused by the whole thing, as Elecmon voiced her thoughts. "Someone has a crush…"

Terriermon blushed through several shades, before turning and preparing to leap at Elecmon. "Hey, take that back!" he yelled. "It's nothing!" he added, pleading his 'innocence'.

Jeri giggled at the scene, amused by how events were unfolding, but some things were still a bit confusing. Realmon leapt onto Rey's shoulder, and she looked on amazed at how they could be so closely coordinated and bonded, even with their little fight earlier and Realmon's 'payback'. Her tails swished around as she landed perfectly on Rey. She smiled, glancing periodically to her partner, as the fox's tails dangled out behind Rey.

"_Feels good to be like this again…"_ Realmon communicated happily to her partner.

Rey nodded, watching the scene as Terriermon was calmed down by Henry as he was placed back on the boy's shoulder. "Don't make me make Suzie get you with Pwincess Pwetty Pants again, unless you actually like that?" he teased, Terriermon pouting and crossing his arms.

"Hey!" he complained, trying to think of a come back. "…shut up…" he moaned sadly, as the laughs continued. Rey for the first time in ages felt happy, as part of a group, laughing and smiling. Happiness, the thing she'd always been seeking, and she finally had it.

Rey suddenly felt herself vanish, as Rika turned to stare on in horror. Her daughter began to blink in and out of existence.

* * *

**13:43 JST**

Mari stood paralysed in fear as her glance moved between the rapidly falling heart rate monitor and the boy, as he murmured before silencing, his body turning completely limp as the monitor's beep turned into a long continuous one, the sign of heart failure. Dr Imai arrived in alarm, looking on at the situation, and racing to grab a defibrillator as doctors and nurses gathered around.

"Come on!" Dr Imai pleaded, a tinge of anger in her voice as she applied the paddles to his chest, a zap of electricity running through him. She frowned at his lack of reaction, rubbing the paddles together once again. "Clear!" she said, determination in her voice as the paddles went down once, then twice, then three times more, her aggravation growing each time.

"He's gone…" one of the nurses commented sadly, as Dr Imai groaned in frustration, almost throwing the paddles aside.

Dr Imai frowned, calming herself down as she looked at her watch, sadly doing her duty in this case. "Time of death…**13:45**…" she proclaimed, as the nurses and doctors sadly began to scatter.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Not much to say besides reminding everyone to keep on reading! 

Next time…

With Ryder dead, how will Mari manage to move on? Will Rey no longer exist?

Find out in 'His Death', Chapter Twenty-One of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	21. His Death

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 21**

_His Death_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**13:45 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

Dr Imai frowned, calming herself down as she looked at her watch, sadly doing her duty in this case. "Time of death…**13:45**…" she proclaimed, as the nurses and doctors sadly began to scatter, it just being a routine death for them. Dr Imai breathed deeply as she leaned on the bed, looking over the dead body, before glancing up to Mari, standing nearby in horror and paralysis.

Fumiko stood up, walking carefully over the girl and offering her arms. Mari fell forward into a hug, suddenly feeling so empty as she looked over the doctor's shoulder at the body. Moments passed as Dr Imai felt emotions sweep over her, of failure. She always felt this kind of emotions when someone died, but this was far greater. She had invested so much emotionally in this case, and it had intrigued her so much, that this was far more powerful than her normal feelings. Compared to the feelings of the relatives, her feelings normally would be considered as indifference, even callous. The number of deaths she had seen…she had become desensitised to it. For once, for the first time since her first patient that died, she felt strong feelings about it, and it felt painful. She couldn't imagine how painful it was for the girl in her arms, both since she seemed reliant and close to the boy, and also since she was now alone. A feeling of disappointment also filled the woman's heart, of never finding out about why the boy froze, or any one of the many mysteries surrounding him.

"I wanted more time…" she whimpered, Fumiko nodding sadly as she heard the tears of the sobbing girl drop against the floor.

"I know" Dr Imai reassured, as she felt the girl's grip on her loosen. She looked curiously as the girl, now beyond tears in sadness, walked over to the boy, looking sadly down at him.

"Ryder…I'll never forget you…" she whispered, turning to face the doorway as footsteps approached, Rey at the lead.

"No!" Rey yelled, suddenly blinking out of existence as Rika, Jeri, Henry and Takato followed, along with their partners. Realmon looked across to her concerned Tamer, as she felt herself fade.

"Rey, what's going on?" Takato asked. Rey looked speechlessly at her hand, as it fizzled.

"No…I have to stop it all…this can't happen!" she panicked.

Rika grabbed Rey's hand, the girl turning to her mother. "Don't worry!" Rika reassured, Rey suddenly noticing a blue aura flood over her. "I'll protect you!" she insisted. Rey looked to her curiously, nodding, completely unsure what was truly going on, as more footsteps arrived, those of the latest Tamers to arrive at the hospital. The group looked on in horror as it became clear what had happened, a deep look of sadness befalling their faces.

Rika pulled Rey into an embrace, as Takato looked on in confusion. Mari hardly noticed, tears streaming down her face as Jeri looked on sadly, Henry doing likewise.

Ryder suddenly gasped for breath, everyone in the room looking on in surprise as Ryder suddenly began to breathe again, an impossibility. The boy's head lifted slightly, before settling back down on the pillow.

"This is…not possible…" Dr Imai said, flabbergasted at what was happening.

Mari stared through tearful eyes at the boy, somehow breathing again despite his death. Everyone in the room stared on in amazement as the boy's breathing settled back into a regular rhythm.

Dr Imai, still bewildered by the events, wandered over to him, and noted that his eyes were still glazed over in unconsciousness, as they closed once again.

"Um…what just happened?" Takato asked, confused.

Dr Imai reattached the equipment, in particular for the heart rate scanner, which began to register a more normal heart rate. She blinked at the display, amazed at how this boy had come back from the dead.

"So…dark…" Ryder muttered, the death having somehow pushed him back into a more able stage of his coma.

"Did he…die or what?" Yolei asked, looking at the boy.

"**This is point blank impossible, he wasn't registering any life signs just now…he's literally come back from the dead…but…how?"**Harmony asked in bewilderment, Dr Imai looking curiously at Rika and her alternate voice.

Rey noticed Rika's aura dropping, as she noticed that she hadn't ceased to exist. She blinked at her hands, before looking up to Rika, who smiled and nodded. "Thanks…" Rey said unsurely, for the first time in ages having no idea of what was going on.

"No problem" Rika answered, before the pair looked to the boy.

"I still don't understand, he was dead, wasn't he?" Mimi asked.

Takato looked to the older girl, before looking back to the boy. "Um…yeah, I think so…"

"The darkness…nothing…the end…" Ryder muttered.

"He's talking again at least" Renamon noted, Rika nodding, as Mari stepped forward and felt his cheek, her eyebrow rising at the warmth she felt in it.

"I may only be a medical student, but this sounds impossible" Joe noted, looking to Dr Imai, who nodded.

"Yeah…something very strange is going on here" the doctor replied, nodding.

"We're used to that, trust me" Ken noted, Joe chuckling and nodding.

"What's going on here?" asked a new voice, as a familiar Gogglehead and a brunette arrived at the door, looking in surprise at the number of people in the hospital room.

"Is he okay?" Kari asked, as everyone glanced around, pondering how on earth you could possibly answer that question after what they had just witnessed.

"Well…he died…and then…he was alive again…so, we'll get back to you on that one" Rey finally spoke, Davis and Kari looking with confusion at what she had said.

"What do you mean?" Gatomon asked, leaping down to stand in front of her Tamer.

"Just what she said…he was alive, then he died, then he came back to life" Yolei explained.

"That's impossible!" Davis exclaimed.

"The darkness…there is nothing…" Ryder muttered, drawing attention back to him again.

"Did he just talk?" Cody asked, Dr Imai fielding the question.

"Yes, but he's still in a coma…some patients can speak whilst in a coma, it is surprising for those who have never heard of it before" she explained, Cody nodding and looking back to the boy. Dr Imai looked back to the machines, trying to reason with herself as to how he survived. _'Okay, so he actually died…the machines don't break that easily…and I defibrillated him several times…he was dead…so…what's going on?'_ she thought, finding no reason in what had happened.

"This could be something of a breakthrough for medical science" Joe noted, Dr Imai nodding as she manually checked the boy's heartbeat, still amazed at the extraordinary events. The heartbeat was normal, and some colour had flooded back into the boy, although he was still pale, and clearly unconscious.

"Yeah…I have to say, for the first time in my medical career, I really have no idea what's going on" the doctor replied, glancing along the bed and stopping on the small Digimon at the end, still sleeping like his Tamer.

"So, back to the waiting game?" TK asked.

Dr Imai nodded, frowning. "Hopefully, this means he'll survive, although I can't promise anything" she said, specifically to Mari, who nodded, before looking back to the boy.

"The darkness…it ends…that's all" Ryder muttered, Mari paying more attention to his words, and raising an eyebrow.

'_What is he talking about?'_

"There is nothing" he said, Mari looking far more curiously at the boy.

'_Where is there nothing?'_

"So dark…so scary…" Ryder muttered.

"He's very talkative" Gatomon noted. "What's he talking about?"

Mari shrugged, shaking her head. "No idea…" she answered, hearing more footsteps arrive at the room, as everyone began to gather. It looked like this day was going to be longer than she thought it would be…

* * *

**19:46 JST**

"Here" Rey said, passing the red-browned girl a coffee where she sat besides the bed. Mari smiled and nodded, smelling the familiar smell of the drink wafting through the air, as Rey pulled up another chair, pausing only to let Realmon jump to the floor alongside her.

Most of the Tamers had stayed until only a few hours ago, but some had classes to return to well before then. Ryder's condition had seemed stable since his death, and Mari had sat contemplating for most of the day. Rika and Takato had headed home, Takato presumably receiving a berating from his mother for being absent all day, despite the fact that it was to see a dying, and indeed dead, friend, who had recovered through some twisted chance.

Rey had felt a bit woozy after fainting, but she'd recovered from it, Mari glad to see she was okay, but still unsure what had caused her fainting.

"Thanks" the red-brown haired girl answered, putting her hands around the warm cup as Rey sat down, smiling.

"No problem" she said, glancing to her right, and the boy lying in the bed. "Any change?"

"No, not at all…he's stopped talking" Mari answered.

Rey nodded, looking up at the ceiling tiles. Ryder's recovery had been a relief to all of them, but Dr Imai's words hung on their minds.

"_**Hopefully, this means he'll survive, although I can't promise anything"**_

Rey knew that Dr Imai was simply trying to avoid getting their hopes up, so that any eventual death wouldn't hurt them so much. Ryder's injuries had dried up, but she knew that they would have short-term effects on his mobility if he were to wake up. It would simply be the way to recovery.

"What was he talking about?" Realmon asked, looking to Mari.

"At first, he said about the darkness. He said it ends, and that there is nothing. I'm not really sure what he's talking about. After that, he just had the occasional mutterings of reminiscing of his old and new lives, saying both my and Ivy's names."

Rey nodded, sitting back in her seat and pondering the meaning of Ryder's words. She glanced to Realmon, looking for ideas, but received the equivalent of a shrug, albeit her partner lacking shoulders to do so with.

"I'm still amazed that he died and then returned" Mari noted, Rey nodding in response.

"Yeah, even as an Angel, that should be impossible…we're not immortal or anything" she answered, Mari nodding, before looking at her friend curiously.

"So how do we manage to survive such damage then?" Mari asked, Rey glancing to her, before breaking into an explanation.

"Angels have an exterior shield of energy, made from data, used to protect us. It's not a be-all and end-all shield though, it is vulnerable both to pointed attacks, like spears or bullets, and attacks of very high power, but it does protect against a lot of things, even falling from buildings"

"Then why did Ryder get so injured?"

"The shield is linked to the Angel's state; Ryder would've been knocked unconscious by the trunk. I'd assume his injuries were all from when he hit the wall."

"I see…so you really don't think his revival is related to his Angelhood?"

Rey shook her head, looking to him and looking over him. "No, it just simply isn't…something else is going on here, something far deeper than even I know"

"Aw, and here's me thinking you knew everything" Realmon joked, Rey smiling at her partner.

"Sorry, I'm no superman" Rey apologised. "I can fly though" she added, holding out her arms to either side.

"Hmm…why exactly can you fly, and not us? Surely that's what Angels are?" Mari asked.

"First of all Mari, I want you to drop all conceptions of Biblical Angels, Angels from TV series, and any other Angels you're thinking about…" Rey requested.

Mari looked to her, as Rey moved her chair to face the other girl, who moved hers to have the back to the bed, looking into the hazel eyes of the redhead.

"Okay" Mari said, eagerly awaiting what Rey was to say.

Rey nodded, smiling as she recalled all she had been told and learnt throughout her life, along with everything that had come naturally to her through experience and through her Angelhood. She looked up slightly, grouping the thoughts together in her head, before learning forward and beginning to talk.

"Right, the Angels were created by Harmony at the dawn of the universe. The Angels incarnate again each time they die, without the same memories, and all exist in this universe, except for the First Angel who is always incarnated in another universe. The Angels are recognised as simple normal humans, until they are awakened. The First Angel is the key, only once he awakes, can the others awake, which they do so gradually afterwards. This is why the First Angel is outside the others' universe, it creates a safeguard. The destiny in his universe is designed to dispatch him into our universe only when needed."

"So Ryder ending up in this universe wasn't a mistake?"

"Well…you could choose to see it that way…his universe is similar but different, so destiny may operate in a different way there."

"I see…"

"How does awaking work?" DarkRenamon asked, stepping out from the shadows to stand near her Tamer.

Rey looked up to her, before explaining what the vixen had asked about. "There are ten levels of awakening, from complete unknowing to full knowledge of their state. Level 0 is the stage most of the Angels are currently at, they are all but human, except for the fact they still have a shield as a method of protection. However, as soon as an Angel moves up to Level 1, their DNA is reconfigured with one strand from Chaos, and one from Harmony, except for me of course. I have five from each, as a direct descendant of them. As they move up the levels, Angels become more aware of their powers. At level 5, their personal power becomes activated, in Ryder's case Retcon, in your case Synchronicity, and in my case Fortune…I can alter streams of destiny to good effect. Unfortunately, I can't use it right now, since it'd probably end up inadvertently erasing myself from history, but it's a bit like Retcon in how it functions. I do have other powers that I use, those derived directly from my mother and father. They can use this power from Level 5, although they can't control it until Level 9. Level 10 is full awakening. Not all Angels will experience all the levels, and some rank up faster than others. Going from the low levels straight to one of the top ones causes a large burst of energy though, so it's definitely better for an Angel to realise naturally than have someone tell them who they really are."

"So what level is Kristy currently at?"

Rey pondered, considering the girl who was her aunt, even though she was younger than her at present. "Hmm…I'd say around Level 2 or 3."

"I see…so what makes us different to humans?"

"Angels have enhanced battle, mental and physical capabilities, and probably some other things beyond that. I hope to one day figure out the full extent of what Angels can do. They are also resistant to Dimensional effects, such as the cataclysm, and act as beacons in those events. They can avoid its effects, along with anyone or anything they're holding, either directly or indirectly, during the disturbance. Besides these general powers, as you know, each Angel has their own powers."

"I see…what are they then?"

"Well, Ryder divides the Angels into Elements, Qualities and Chances, and then there's me."

"Huh? What do the names mean?"

"Well…the first tier of Angels, consisting of three Angels, includes the First, Second and Third Angels. Ryder Stevens, the First Angel of Time, is able to control time, and manipulate probability; by jumping probability tracks on events to make a preferable line of events happen. This is his ability, Retcon, although he can also feel the flow of time and how it is blocked by Dimensional disturbances."

"I see…he mentioned once before that he could feel the flow of time when we were in Grand Central Terminal…when Sleipmon and Kudamon touched each other and caused the Blinovitch Limitation Effect to activate."

"Yeah, that would feel like a rock placed in a stream of water, time flows around it. When the rock is picked up by the flow after it builds up, however, it causes a burst of energy, which caused the pair of them to cancel out. The data then scattered, before being binded into one being, Kudamon, who now has both memories."

"But…what exactly was that all about? Were they really the same being?"

"Yes…when Kristy biomerged herself with Kudamon, the data set of Sleipmon was sent back via the now fragile gap in time to become a Sleipmon in the past, with no memories of what happened, later to become a Royal Knight. The rift in time was sealed afterwards by Ryder's latent powers."

"How do you know all this?" Mari asked, in amazement at what Rey knew.

Rey sat back in her seat, closing her eyes and contemplating. "I…I can feel the flow of Destiny Mari…I see both good and bad, and I can have very little effect on it…it haunts me sometimes…that's why I like Ryder so much, he has the power to change things. I suppose…I suppose his existence alone amazes me…the fact that he has complete control over what he does, not being pulled along by some petty time flow. Going back in time…I know what it means to have free will…something very deep is going on here, and events are marching towards a terrible conclusion."

Mari listened intently to what Rey had to say, in awe of her abilities, and her thoughtfulness, despite being but a mere sixteen year old. Rey tapped the metal of her time device, smiling.

"That's why I have to do what I'm going to do…I have to prevent an event that seems insignificant compared to what is causes, but it is in fact a major event that changes the future of this world forever. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it is."

"Aw…" Mari complained playfully. "And here's me thinking you would…" she added, smiling, as Rey chuckled.

"I would love to share what I have to do with someone else, so they could help me think about it, but I simply can't. I'm risking far too much if I do so, this device has only got enough power to fix a paradox in place once, like a stapler to a piece of paper. It will fracture time and reassemble it, fixing the new timeline in place. I just hope it holds."

"It's strange to think of things like this…Destiny, and Time, and paradoxes…that kind of stuff goes way over most people's heads, it's the stuff of science fiction. But it's real, and we're at the forefront of it."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Awed…simply amazed…" Mari answered, slightly speechless as she began to stare into thin air in contemplation.

Rey smiled, noting her friend's reaction, and nodding. "Now you know how I feel…"

Mari nodded, looking back to her friend once again, as a question crossed her mind, one that she then voiced. "So, you were saying about each of the Angel's powers?"

Realmon grinned. "Heh, Rey, you really do have a habit of starting explanations of lists and then stopping them, don't you?"

"Heh…yeah…" Rey answered. "Where was I?"

"You were moving onto Mari, the Second Angel" DarkRenamon informed.

Rey nodded, getting back to her place in the conversation, as Mari sipped the last of her coffee. "Well, you, Mari Flynn, are the Second Angel of Control. You can manipulate space, moving items and causing things to happen simultaneously. For example, you can cause a whirlwind, or make a burst of fire destroy an energy ball. This is your ability, Synchronicity, the power of synchronising events in data, matter and space to cause the intended outcome. However, like all Angels, refining the powers to a more useful level will take time."

"Yeah. What will I be able to do once I manage to refine it?" Mari asked.

"Refining your powers will be a continuous process, but…you could soon…hmm…make a TV remote fall off a table, be flicked through the air and land in your hand!" Rey replied.

"Huh? What made you think of that?" Mari asked, interested in the power but curious as to why Rey used it as an example.

"Well, let's just say that when you and Ryder are fighting over the remote in future, that's exactly what you do. Unfortunately, he then retcons the remote to land in his hand rather than yours."

Mari chuckled, happy to hear that they would have a lot of fun with their powers in future, even if it was in a petty squabble kind of way.

"So…who's next?" she asked, smiling and eager to hear what the other Angels could do.

"Well, completing the Elements is the Third Angel of Knowledge. The tiers of the Angels, by the way, aren't like a hierarchy, but it's easier to think of it like that. The Third Angel of Knowledge completes the trio by being the intelligence to use the Power of Time and Space correctly, and to maximum effect, both in and out of battle. For example, in order to aim correctly, or maximise how powerful an attack is against an enemy. This is the Third Angel's power, Logic."

"So any ideas on who the Third Angel is?" Mari asked. Rey smiled, a playful grin on her face.

"Oh no, I _know_ who the Third Angel is. I know the identities of every Angel, but naturally I'm keeping them under wraps."

"Didn't particularly expect you not to." Mari muttered, as Rey nodded, smiling and continuing her explanations.

"As you can see, the first tier of the Angels, the Elements, are all about Time, Space and the knowledge to manipulate them."

"Yeah, so what makes the rest different?"

"Well, now we move onto the Qualities. The first of the Qualities is the Fourth Angel of Light. The Fourth Angel has the ability to light the darkness and bring justice on those who are evil. In battle, her ability, Radiance, allows her to weaken those with dark intentions, and out of battle, it allows her to light areas and shield people against evil and darkness."

"So…is that Kari then?" Mari asked, considering what Ryder and the others had told her.

"Perhaps…don't expect all the Angels to be who you expect though, I mean, look at Hope. Based on the crests, most people would assume that it was TK, but the Angels don't work that way. Kristy is the Angel of Hope because of her childish innocence, and her way of using it to make others feel better. Auntie Kristy has certainly done that for me plenty of times."

Mari chuckled, realisation dawning on her. "Yeah, I forgot that she would be your Aunt. Must be confusing for you to be older than her then."

"Yeah, it is, but I get used to it. Anyway, the next Angel is the Fifth Angel of Courage. This is a quality of being able to take risks and have them pay off, this particular Angel's abilities rewarding this. It increases power in battle when courageous moves are made, and rewards bravery, both in the user and in those allied to this Angel. This ability is known as Valour. Out of battle, it can allow the Angel to help others by reassuring them, and allows the Angel to withstand mental stress and pressures beyond those of a normal human, or indeed most of the other Angels."

"I get what makes the Qualities different now; they are more emotion based than the Elements."

"Yeah, that's the main difference. Moving on, we come to the last of the Qualities, the Sixth Angel of Spirit. This particular Angel is able to comfort others and make them feel better, along with being able to heal them. In fact, healing is at the centre of this Angel's power, hence its ability is called Healing."

"That must be useful in battle?" DarkRenamon asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"You betcha…" Rey answered. "It's won us many battles in the past, and this Angel has comforted us time after time when we're at our wits end. In fact, she would save anyone and everyone if she could."

"Aha, so she's a girl then?" Mari asked, teasing Rey about her mistake.

"Ah…damn…I'll be more careful from now on…" she answered, scratching the back of her head, a habit she had got from her father. She decided to move on in her explanations. "Finally, completing the Trio of Tiers, we have the Chances. All of these Angels are based around things that happen by chance or coincidence. The first of them is the Seventh Angel of Love. This Angel is involved with the power of caring, of loving, love of all kinds from friendship through to parental love through to sexual love, with romance, partnership and alliances in between, including all positive relationships that exist in the universe. In battle, she has the defensive ability Hearts, which protects others who she cares about from harm, allowing them to keep on fighting as they need to."

Realmon rolled her eyes. "Rey, you said 'She' again…"

Rey laughed nervously at herself. "Yeah, I guess I really need to stop doing that…then again, did you really think the Angel of Love would ever be a man?" she asked, smiling in amusement. "Then again, Love is pure chance, one of the most random things ever."

Mari nodded, it fitted well within the particular tier it was in.

"Regardless, moving on, we have the Eighth Angel of Miracles. This is probably one of the closest ones overall to its tier, since Miracles and Chances are so closely entwined. The Eighth is all about turning things round at the last moment, about making miracles happen, hence its ability, Turnabout. Out of battle, this defiance against giving up allows this particular Angel to reassure others when they feel that a battle is going to be lost."

Mari nodded, amazed at the amount she had learnt about the Angels today. She glanced to Ryder, it was a shame he was missing all of this, but she could always get Rey to repeat it, or, failing that, she could try and recite it all herself.

"To finish off the original Angels, we have Kristy Nonaka, the Ninth Angel of Hope. This is slightly different to the other Chances, in that, rather than being about using the effects of chance, its about the hope that chance will make things happen the way she wants, in order to protect her friends and save her world, allowing her to stand steadfast even in the face of devastation. Her ability is Optimism, when used, it makes the user and her allies have increased power in battle from the hope to be able to defeat evil and darkness."

"And what about you?" Rey asked.

"Well, I'm in my own league, but I'm the Tenth Angel of Destiny. I have control over the flow of destiny, the events that happen in people's lives, but it is such a vast flow that controlling things in detail is difficult, although I can hold back more minor things that wouldn't be noticed if they were missing, such as people's realisations about things. I have plenty of powers both for use in and out of battle, but many of them require a lot of power which means that it saps my energy, but I work at making them more efficient. One of my moves is Final Destiny, which is truly my be all and end all move. It nullifies a destiny line, making a person or people cease to exist. I hate using it, it's like a clean murder, and I'm frankly glad that it drains my power. I only use it when I have to, and haven't used it that often. However, my actual Angel power is Fortune, a move that allows me to alter approaching destiny to make good things happen, and increase my power, but it is mainly useful in battle since its range in terms of how far forward in Destiny it can alter is limited."

"I see…would you want to be placed in a category?"

"Well, you see, here's the thing, the categories of Elements, Qualities and Chances were simply invented by the First Angel to explain the way it all works better. But, you could easily apply different groups based on different factors, for example, whether their powers are Offensive, Defensive or Manipulative. In that case, Offensive would be the Third, Fifth and Ninth Angels, since they are all about increasing abilities and tactics in battles. Defensive would be the Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Angels, since they are all about defending and protecting others and themselves. And manipulative would be the First, Second, Seventh and Tenth angels, since they are all about manipulating things like Time, Space, Luck and Destiny, in order to make things happen."

"I see…" Mari replied. "Thanks for all of this by the way, I've learnt so much, and you're as good at explaining things as Ryder."

"Yeah, I just wish I didn't keep messing up and telling you their genders" the redhead replied, chuckling. Mari nodded, glancing to Ryder's form again, as Dr Imai entered the room.

"Hello Mari, Rey" she greeted, the pair nodding in response.

"Don't forget me!" Realmon cheered, Fumiko nodding.

"How could I, you terrorised plenty of nurses on your rampage?"

"Blame Rey for that" the fox answered, looking up to her Tamer, who stuck her tongue out playfully back at her partner. Dr Imai chuckled, as she began to check the various pieces of medical equipment around the boy.

"How is he?" Mari asked curiously and nervously.

Dr Imai frowned, checking the results. "Well…I think he's in the clear now, but I still can't promise you anything, and I can't tell when he'll wake up…when do you plan to go home?"

Mari glanced to the time on her D-Vice, surprised to see it reading **20:23**. They had definitely had a very long talk, and Mari smiled at that. She had felt happy, oddly because Ryder was still unconscious, for the first time since he was injured earlier that day.

"Wow, we've been talking for a long while…" Rey exclaimed, Mari nodding. Rey looked to her friend. "So, are you staying here overnight, or are you going home and coming back in the morning?" she asked.

Dr Imai looked to Mari, who pondered what she could do. "I'm not really sure…" she answered.

"If it helps, I can call you if anything happens?" Dr Imai suggested.

"Youkomon isn't exactly slow…" DarkRenamon added.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you'd prefer an actual bed over a plastic seat?" Realmon added.

"Yeah, I guess…" Mari answered, feeling unsure that she was doing the right thing by going home.

Rey put her hand on her friends shoulder to reassure her. "You look like you could use a long bath anyway…"

Mari nodded. "Okay…" she answered. "Please call me if there is any change in his condition though" she said to the doctor, who nodded.

"I won't hesitate in doing so, don't worry" she reassured. Realmon glanced up on top of the bed to the sleeping bat, softly snoring as his wings were partially wrapped around him where he lay.

"What about him?" she asked, pointing one of her white paws at the creature. DarkRenamon picked him up carefully in one hand and scooped him into her arms, making sure he didn't wake.

"We'll take him back home, I think that he'd prefer to know what's going on once he wakes up, and an unconscious Ryder won't be able to tell him that" she explained.

"Yeah, and I think he'd end up scaring some hospital staff otherwise once he wakes up" Mari added, agreeing with her partner, and looking to the sleeping form.

Realmon chuckled. "Yeah, I'd hate to think of them throwing him out the window or something" she noted, Rey chuckling and nodding herself.

Dr Imai smiled, nodding. "I have other patients to attend to, but, like I said, I'll keep an eye on his condition and call you if anything comes up."

Mari smiled. "Thanks."

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Things recover from what looked like the end there, and now you know a lot more about the Angels to boot. I love writing this thing. Please review, I'd be particularly interested to hear what you thought of the information on the Angels. As always, the longer the review the better, I don't mind long reviews at all (then again, nor do I particularly mind short ones either). 

It was interesting to see in all of your reviews your surprise at Ryder's death. To clarify things, Ryder did actually die. And then he came back. And the reason why is going to take a while to be revealed. This has all been planned out, trust me.

Right, to get the ball rolling on my plans, I need a name for a female character in the next book, namely the Second Demon, preferably both the first name and surname, so include these in reviews or PMs if you want, and I'll consider using them as the character's name. Any other names, in particular the more Japanese-style ones, may turn up in the story as well (or in later stories) even if not chosen as the name of the Second Demon.

Next time…

Will Ryder recover? Who are the Angels? Why did Ryder freeze up?

Find out in 'Her Soap', Chapter Twenty-Two of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	22. Her Soap

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 22**

_Her Soap_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**22:01 JST**

**4****th**** July 2010**

Mari breathed a sigh of relaxation as she settled back down in the bath, the water splashing about gently, the white bubbles stretched along with it, although none of the liquid going over the sides. She closed her eyes, wiping a loose wet clump of auburn hair strands away from her eyes before opening them again.

She leaned her head back onto the white plastic sloped end of the bath, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace and quiet. Well, all apart from the sound of a television, albeit a quiet one impossible to hear unless one was silent, from the living room.

She wasn't concerned: after seeing the redhead yawn, Mari had invited Rey to stay at her place again, an offer she accepted gratefully. Mari had assumed that Rey would simply skip forward to the next day, but the girl had told her that she wanted to sleep, which was understandable since she had woken up early that morning.

'_Then again, she did sleep when she fainted…'_ Mari noted. She didn't mind, it was becoming clearer that Rey wasn't staying out of tiredness but more out of simply wanting to relax and have someone to talk to (besides Realmon), and also to be able to help Mari. Plus, Realmon seemed to be interested in stretching her legs, and the sounds of a short-lasted pillow fight demonstrated this, stopped when Rey decided that it wasn't exactly the best time.

Rey was a quirky girl; there was no doubt about that. Then again, could anyone with Rika and Takato as their parents ever be normal? One, a determined, passionate redhead with a temper, and the other a nervous, kind Gogglehead with a dreamer personality.

Mari chuckled, it was odd, but, they fitted each other perfectly, each complimenting the others weaknesses. Then again, she was applying logic to Love, the one topic beyond any logical reasoning.

'_Other than our lives, of course…'_ she corrected herself.

She knew she was right though, both their lives and love seemed to defy explanation. The events of that day were a clear indication.

The image of Ryder suddenly gasping for breath once again two minutes after completely dying flashed through her mind, and she felt the same chills she had felt back then. She'd at first assumed that it was a fault with the heart rate machine, but then Harmony had confirmed that he had been dead. Even if the machines had been at fault, the unnecessary defibrillation would've killed him anyway.

So what was going on? How did Ryder survive death?

Mari shook her head, that wasn't what was going on here.

How did Ryder die, and then be revived?

The boy was a continual source of mystery for her, and it seemed that he found new ways to bewilder her all the time, be it muttering an old crush's name while in a coma, or dying and then returning from the dead, an impossible feat.

Of course, once Harmony had confirmed he had actually died, and yet came back, Mari had attributed it to the fact he was an Angel, but this wasn't the case, as Rey confirmed. Their chat had answered a lot of her questions about the Angels, and cleared her mind of plenty of misconceptions.

A thump resounded through the floor, and Mari rolled her eyes, calling out through the door. "What happened?" she asked, somewhat peeved by what had become a regular occurrence.

"MiniDonmon fell asleep and fell off the sofa again!" Rey called back.

"Fine" Mari groaned, settling back down again.

MiniDonmon had been tired out continually since Ryder had gone into his coma, the severed link draining the bat. Mari frowned, it was sad to see the normally cheerful creature depressed.

'_Please get better Ryder…'_ she thought, glancing around the room lazily, noting her D-Vice left on the side, although she had a hunch that it was waterproof. Testing it wouldn't have been a smart move however, she knew, so she had taken it off. She hoped that Ryder's was still working, and hoped that he was recovering. The D-Vice seemed able to withstand damage without showing any marks (a property held by all Digivices). In fact, the only way it seemed possible to destroy or deactivate them was via the death of the user, the partner, extreme emotional stress (normally anger), or, in the case of the D-Vice exclusively, removing them from the wrist.

Well, they weren't completely deactivated even them, the time shown on the device in a digital watch-style way, an amusing, if possibly unintentional, method of camouflage.

Who designed the mysterious devices anyway? Did previous incarnations have them? She couldn't help but think that would be a mistake back in Roman times, or particularly during the days when someone would be burnt at the stake for being a witch for having such a device.

Mari then recalled what Rey had said about Angels awakening, and that this was the first time they had ever become self-aware. In which case, maybe they'd never had partners before, and hence no need for digivices.

Chaos and Harmony, however, were always conscious of who they were, so surely they would have digivices, particularly if they had fought alongside Guilmon and Renamon before?

This mysterious new world, a literal thing for Ryder, and a metaphorical thing for her, had plenty of secrets that she hoped to learn the answer to.

The lukewarm nature of the water made her begin to move her foot to turn the hot tap on, before a thought occurred to her. Moving her foot back, she picked up the bar of soap behind her, holding it on its side in her index and middle fingers. She felt her power as an Angel in her hand again as it glowed, soon moving upwards to her fingers. She moved her fingers forward sharply, propelling the object through the air.

Unfortunately, despite the coincidences in play, the projectile missed its intended target, instead slipping around the side of the bath, into the air and hitting the D-Vice on the side, which promptly fell into the toilet with a plop.

Mari groaned, slipping back down in the bath. She'd need to work on this.

* * *

**Katou Residence**

**22:23 JST**

Pen furiously went to paper before being dropped aside as Jeri finished her homework and breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at the ceiling of her bedroom in exhaustion. She'd been on her feet for most of the day, and it had been an emotionally tiring day as well. Be it Rika's revelation, Ryder's revival or Realmon's reality, today had been full of surprises. She never normally ended up doing her homework so late, but today had left her with no other chances to do it in, and Mrs Asagi had set three pieces of homework due in the next day as well, both of which sat neatly on the top.

"Done?" asked a voice, and Jeri turned to her partner, who sat on the bed, nodding.

"Finally…" she said in relief, standing up from her chair and beginning to sort out her bag for the next day of school. It'd be a very strange day after all they had learnt, Ryder certainly would be absent, and she had bets on that Mari would take the day off as well. Mrs Asagi would probably sympathise with the later, and not go too hard on the catch up homework on either.

Then again, she did insist on them completing two weeks worth of work after their first visit to the Digital World and the D-Reaper incident.

Summer was near, however, and a well deserved rest would be in order. She looked forward to the familiar routine being broken, being able to wake up whenever she wanted and do whatever she wanted. And then there was the holiday, a subject that hadn't really been discussed much so far. They were heading out to Okinawa, where Takato's cousin Kai lived, for a week, as a whole group once again. Although she enjoyed going on holiday as a family, it always seemed more fun going on holiday as a group of Tamers, along with a few of the ex-Digidestined who had decided to come along this time. Sure, it could get aggravating being stuck with the likes of Kazu for too long (although Rika was the most vocal in expressing this displeasure, which could only be enhanced by her mood swings this time around), but it was still fun.

Thoughts of holidays and destinations made her mind wander back to the previous holiday (although at the time it had been strictly referred to as a business trip, and later it would become obvious that it wasn't a holiday in terms of the relaxation they got) they had had, and the events set in motion from it. Be it Ryder finding Mari, Mari finding DarkRenamon or Takato finding…well…details on that were probably best left unclear in Jeri's mind, she felt uneasy picturing her friends in that way. It surprised her enough that Rika and Takato had decided to do what they did, even if they had been together for three years.

She gestured to Elecmon, who, blushing slightly in memory of his previous mistake, quickly exited the room, as Jeri began to change into her pyjamas.

Rika was going to have a lot of explaining to do when it came to telling her parents, as would Takato with his. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her parents would react. She counted herself lucky not to be in that position, but also knew that Rika clearly needed Takato by her side, which was probably the most vulnerable Jeri had ever seen the redhead. His visible pain at how tightly she gripped his hand earlier on the rooftop was worth a giggle, and was far more obvious than he'd have wanted it to be.

At the same time, she had no doubts that Takato would be there for Rika, and vice versa. They seemed to rely on each other so much that it had become second nature to them, sure, the love between them was supported by their status as Tamers, Incarnates, and classmates, but Jeri knew that truthfully, none of that mattered to the pair. They'd fallen in love for their love of each other, not because of some higher power (and she also doubted that Chaos and Harmony would ever have wanted them to fall in love in the first place).

She pondered how they would get along once the baby, identified as Rey, was born. She couldn't imagine Rika with a child, as a mother, but at the same time, having seen her relationship with Kristy (somewhat of a half-sister to the redhead), she doubted that Rika could do that badly. It was odd, while showing virtually no maternal instincts most of the time, Rika occasionally showed bouts of caring well beyond what most of them felt, be it for a friend, a relative, or an entire Digital World.

Rey herself was an enigma, it seemed they had learnt everything they had to learn about her, but still so many deeper mysteries remained about her. Why did she come to the past in the first place? Why did Ryder invent a time machine? What was this 'War'? Who is this 'Lord and Master' that she spoke of in such despicable terms?

Jeri sat back on her bed, her pyjamas now worn, and sighed, falling back diagonally onto the pillow, staring up at the second bunk above, once used by her younger brother but since vacated. Her mind reflected back to the events of that day, in particular the one that had left them all dumbfounded to the highest degree, not least Chaos, Harmony, and Rey, normally geniuses on such topics.

'_How did he survive death itself?'_ she wondered, also contemplating whether he was awake yet all those miles away in the hospital, or whether his condition had worsened. Would he survive if he were to die again, or was it merely a one-off fluke?

Something felt very strange here, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Of all the people in her life, Ryder was probably the biggest mystery now, beyond even Rey herself. She wasn't even sure why either, Ryder just acted in a way that seemed…off. When they had first met, Ryder seemed to accept her name without even needing to let it sink in, a situation later explained by his viewing of their lives as a TV series. She had wondered countless times what the TV series had shown, what they would learn from it if they were to watch it.

Some things were better left unknown. She knew herself that some things she had done, in particular during the D-Reaper, she wouldn't want anyone to know of. She'd contemplated suicide when she was in there, it had crossed her mind many times before she finally pushed herself back from the brink with the help of Impmon, Calumon, Takato and of course, her memories of Leomon.

At the time, she'd believed that she would never see Leomon again, that she'd never get past that episode in her life. But she and her now smaller partner had been given a second chance at happiness, and she was glad for it. The concept of losing him again filled her with dread. During the battle against the Demon Lords when he had dedigivolved into his rookie form, she had been horrified at this concept becoming a reality. Perhaps she'd been overprotective of him since that event. Maybe the vice versa was true as well.

She cringed, recalling the defeat of Gaiomon and the subsequent death of Taiki. Seeing the explosions run across the armour of the samurai-like dragon in her mind, she recalled the explosion of data, and the collapsing of a ball with Taiki in it to the ground. She'd been horrified enough at that point by the fact that BlackRyudamon had been destroyed, but the second death was far more significant.

She ran her hand through her hair, asking herself why. Why was human life for some reason far more valuable than that of Digimon? They'd accepted so many digital deaths at their hands as routine, but the first sign of a human death filled them with disgust. If it had been her killed by Beelzemon rather than Leomon, would they have mourned more?

She cringed at the thought, but knew at the same time it was true.

Ryder had done wrong by killing Taiki, she had no doubt about it, but, at the same time, it seemed somewhat necessary. The concept of further spilling of blood, in particular, that of innocents, in a jail, or court, or police custody, and then those he would go onto kill, seemed worse. She knew, however, that she couldn't carry out the same task Ryder had done.

And now Ryder was on the brink of death himself, having gone beyond it once. She hoped he survived, whatever he had done, he was still a friend in need. Seeing it in Rika's eyes, in Takato's eyes, in Rey and Mari's eyes, she saw the same feeling of helplessness she had felt in her soul. A feeling that she couldn't do anything to prevent what was going on.

"Are you done yet?" a nervous voice asked through the door.

"Yeah…" Jeri replied, noting Elecmon re-enter the room, leaping onto the foot of her bed as she leaned over to the light switch. "Good night…" she said, flicking the room into darkness.

* * *

**Wong Residence**

**22:43 JST**

"Terriermon, aren't you done on that PC yet?" Henry asked in a nagging tone, walking into his room, already wearing his pyjamas. Terriermon currently balanced on the edge of the desk, moving the mouse with his ear and typing with his hands, currently surfing some unknown website. His eyes filled with fury as he began to type away, Henry walking over to him and getting his attention. "Terriermon?" he asked.

"What?!" came the annoyed reply, as Terriermon hit the enter key.

"What are you doing?"

"61K4 N0N4KA called me a moronic useless Digimon…" he answered, turning and typing away again.

"You know that's not actually her, right?"

"Of course I know that Henry!" he insisted. "But that makes it all the more fun to argue with her, without the risk of frying pans!" he said in a mix of anger and enthusiasm, typing away again.

"Hmm…" the blue haired boy pondered, a small tone of concern in his voice as Terriermon continued to type. Henry watched what he typed.

**Yeah, well you were stupid enough to get preg**

Henry pushed Terriermon aside, the bunny falling aside as Henry hit the backspace key, erasing the text from the post being prepared. The rabbit stood up, looking up to an answered Henry.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" he asked, glaring at the digimon.

"Sorry…my mind got away from me…" Terriermon said, laughing at what he had nearly done.

"It's not a joke!" Henry insisted. "The last thing Rika wants right now is everyone hearing about this…" he added, his voice quietening so no-one else heard.

"Uh-huh…"

"We have to keep this under wraps Terriermon...seriously…you may find her annoying, but you can't tell anyone…got that?"

"But…"

"Terriermon…" Henry said in a scolding voice, frowning.

"Okay…" Terriermon resigned, the boy breathing a sigh of relief and the digimon a sigh of annoyance.

Henry walked over to his bed, sighing as he fell back onto it, Terriermon turning off the computer and leaping across the room, winding him in the stomach. Henry groaned, as Terriermon moved aside, Henry's expression turning to one of thought as he looked up at the ceiling, a look tinged with concern and saddened thought.

'_What happens if we lose Ryder?'_ he thought, considering Ryder's position within the group. He was the leader of the Angels, although the group currently only seemed to have two permanent members, as well as acting as support for Rika, and having an integral knowledge of their universe from the TV series, as well as knowledge of items outside the series. Beyond that, he was a powerful fighter, and a good friend, despite his lack of belonging in this universe.

Henry then moved onto another issue, namely that of what would happen to Rey if Ryder died. She seemed to begin vanishing after his death, and he couldn't help but consider what would've happened had Ryder died permanently. He was still amazed that he had somehow survived death, always in the past a terminal thing for humans.

'_It's impossible…isn't it?'_

"Henry, what's on your mind?" his partner inquired, Henry glancing to where the bunny now sat on his bed, frowning at him and receiving a curious glance back.

"Everything…from Ryder's death to Rika's…you know…"

The rabbit nodded knowledgeably, tilting his head. "What's bugging you the most?"

Henry sighed, looking up and facing once again the problem that had bothered him more than any other. "Ryder, and how he managed to survive death of all things" he answered.

"No idea, pretty cool though…" Terriermon answered. "Don'tcha wish you could do that?"

"Well yeah, but I'm not trying to kill myself just to find out if I can."

"Well of course Henry, I'm not suggesting that."

Henry chuckled at the somewhat morbid joke, before returning to a more serious tone of conversation. "The thing is, Terriermon, when human's die, we're dead…and…Ryder just broke one of the oldest rules in the book…even Harmony said he was dead, and I don't doubt her abilities…"

"Then throw the rule book out the window!" Terriermon mooted. "So long as you look at this from that mindset, we'll never find out what really happened."

"Ryder might know?"

"He's been unconscious, like he's going to know anything!"

* * *

**Somewhere**

Every colour could be seen, but it was not bright and rainbow like, nor psychedelic. The colours dotted the darkness, almost like oddly coloured stars, except these moved, phased around briefly making vague shapes, the shapes of cubes, spheres, polygonal shapes with seemingly no pattern other than that. They occasionally appeared to resemble numbers, but there was no pattern.

A shadow floated in the darkness, glancing about occasionally at where he had ended up.

"This is brighter than that darkness from earlier I guess…" he muttered, a strange breeze of wind uttering through the space-like area, as he glanced around curiously. "Huh?" he pondered, as suddenly the 'stars' flew together to make a new image, an image far larger than their sizes combined. The boy covered his eyes with his arm, peeking out slightly to see what appeared. This had happened three times before, and each time it brought a new location, a new image. And oddly, in the past, he felt like himself, he always seemed to have his own point of view, and speak like he always did in the past.

But this time, he felt disembodied, as he looked out on the familiar schoolyard, a square terrace with bench seats, one of which his 'vision' had concentrated on. A girl, and two boys, as well as a small pink and green seed-like Digimon, the boy identifying it as a Lalamon, sat on or floated around the bench. Two other shadows hid in the darkness nearby, the boy noting their presence, one bear like, one tiger like.

"Hey…" a female voice said glumly, its owner joining the other three sitting on the bench, who nodded in greeting.

"Hello…" greeted a second voice from the girl's shoulder, the disembodied boy watching noting the Digimon as a Lunamon. The boy frowned, his visions all seemed to be of before he came to his new world, excepting one that went beyond it all the way to when he met Mari.

"Any news?" the shortest boy of the group asked the girl, who sat down, frowning.

"No…nothing…" she answered, supporting her chin with her hands as her blonde hair ran down.

"I'm sure he'll be back…" the Lalamon reassured, the first girl frowning.

"I hope…"

"Is there anywhere else we could look?" the other girl asked.

A familiar beeping sounded from several devices, as wrists with watches on them were held out, touched and expanded to their full D-Vice glory. The brunette watching smiled as the second girl and the taller boy stood up. The boy noted the lack of his own upon looking to his wrist. He looked up again, seeing a blue bear-like Digimon with red boxing gloves on his hands, a Gaomon, and a yellow lion cub-like Digimon with a tuft of red hair and a gold ring around his neck, a Leormon, who had moved from their hiding places and were tensed ready for battle.

"We have an enemy Digimon…" the Leormon reported, growling slightly at the prospect. The boy he spoke to nodded, looking aside to the others.

"Who'd have thought we would miss the days when Ryder would always be first on the scene?" the Gaomon noted, the taller boy nodding.

The blonde nodded sadly, glancing to her rabbit-like partner, who smiled bravely, trying to reassure her. "Cheer up Ivy; I'm sure he'll turn up someday…" she said.

"Yeah…he…he's got a lot to answer to…" the blonde now identified as Ivy noted, nodding.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you…" the shorter boy noted.

Ivy frowned. "Maybe…"

The world suddenly flew away from the boy in the darkness, as the children began to move, heading to whatever prospect beckoned for them. The darkness returned as the picture split into coloured particles once again, the boy frowning.

"So was that real or what?" he asked, receiving no reply, as he looked around the deep blackness. Despite being dark, it was still nowhere near as dark as what he had seen before, when the world had been swallowed up by something, even darker than what he was in now, as everything faded into nothing. Except one thing stopped it. The world had warped, and reversed, dim swirling light running around and reversing things.

Something very strange was going on, and he only hoped he could escape this place and find out.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

You can probably guess who the boy is in the last part. A nice reflective chapter this time around on the events before, as well as some things to get a particular character back in the plot who has been absent for the last few chapters. 

Next time…

Will Ryder ever wake up? How will Rika and Takato tell their parents? Will Mari ever manage to harness her powers?

Find out in 'Their Insomnia', Chapter Twenty-Three of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	23. Their Insomnia

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

* * *

**CHAPTER 23**

_Their Insomnia_

* * *

**REAL WORLD**

**Matsuki Residence**

**01:01 JST**

**5****th**** July 2010**

Takato groaned, tossing his pillow over once again in the near-blackness of his room. A dim light shone through the closed blinds from the ever-awake city, dimly lighting the room as well as the futon he lay on. Guilmon snored quietly, a rarity, at the end of the bed, and a digital clock's red matrix digits stared at the boy across the room, reading **01:02**. The device was largely redundant thanks to the alarm on his D-Vice, but he removed that at night to leave on his table, and in his mother's own words "The more alarm clocks you have, the more chance you'll actually get up on time someday."

An alarm clock was the last thing Takato needed at the moment, as he turned over to stare at the ceiling in a desperate attempt to get to sleep. The attempt failed, as the familiar sense of something being wrong and uncomfortable returned. He scrunched his eyes up, relaxing his whole body, but found that even that failed to get him to sleep. Every time that feeling of insomnia returned, along with a sweeping fear of the events that followed, namely falling asleep in class and getting extra homework for the rest of term.

'_What's wrong with me?'_ he thought, as he stared up at the ceiling, eyes temporarily left open upon realising that it would be a while before he fell into his world of dreams. His hazel pupils glowed slightly in the night, as he glanced around at the shadows in his room.

Dreams were normally no problem for him, neither was getting to sleep. The problem normally was avoiding dreams and falling asleep, the former normally leading to consequences with Rika (at least on one occasion), and the later leading to consequences with Mrs Asagi.

He still wasn't sure whether he'd managed to complete the homework correctly. Distraction by the events of the day, and Chaos' refusal to help in order to annoy him (but at the same time, trying to avoid having an incarnation knowing nothing of Japanese history without his intervention), had lead to doubts in his mind about the content. Ah, who cared anyway, Mrs Asagi rarely made them redo homework unless it was truly terrible. Takato hoped this wasn't one of those cases. Regardless, Chaos was asleep right now; raising questions in Takato's mind about how part of him could sleep while the rest continued to be awake as normal.

He looked to his normally red partner, now a greyish colour due to the lack of light in the room. He had seen little of the dinosaur during his Sunday, and apart from the occasional visit from Renamon with updates, he had also been completely unaware of what was really going on. It wasn't the first time the dinosaur had been left out and left alone, but normally Calumon and/or Impmon or one of Takato's fellow Tamers would turn up to keep him company. But they were all at the hospital, well, most of them, and the others had other important commitments, or were too far out of the city to make the trip to the hospital and back before the day ended possible.

It had definitely been an eventful two days, be it the actions and revelations of the first day, or the pain and sorrow of the second. He was hoping for some normality, always a rarity in their lives. Be it a new enemy, a bog-standard bioemergence or Terriermon making a jest about Rika and being paralysed for several days, there was always something going on in their city. However, that was 'normal' to them, and what was happening now simply wasn't.

'_How did he die and then return?'_ Takato pondered, thinking back to the day's events. Not only had a heart rate monitor, a deactivated D-Vice (something which Takato's eyes had been drawn to), Harmony and even his own Chaos, confirmed his death, he had stopped breathing for at least a minute. He personally didn't know anything about medicine (although Chaos seemed to from when he was Doctor Jekyll. Takato had laughed, before Chaos told him that he had decided to use one of his incarnations to reinact the book, before changing the subject after a long pause), but it was just simple sense to him, a fact pressed into him by life: Once people died, they were dead. That was the rules, probably the most integral rule of the universe.

So how had Ryder managed to throw the rulebook out the window, like most players of Monopoly do? The difference was, this cheat changed far more things than simply allowing one player to buy everything on the board. This cheat defied life, the universe, everything, and something felt very wrong about that. Sure, he didn't want Ryder to die, but…Ryder had died.

What effect would he have on the universe? Then again, he didn't have a destiny in the first place to affect it with. Maybe that was why he survived; those without destinies cannot have fates. But that would've surely made him free to die at any time?

Takato clutched his head as he sat up, groaning in annoyance at himself, and his avoidance of the true issue at hand. All these thoughts about Ryder were simply a way of stalling his true concern lately, which naturally, was dominating most of his mind.

'_How am I going to be a father?'_ the brunette thought, as he fell back onto his pillow, considering the child Rika was to bear to him. He was sixteen, he was half God, he tamed a large red dinosaur, and his life seemed to become more risky by the day, how would he balance being a father on top of that?

He hadn't even told his parents yet, something he was afraid of. How would his mother react to the news that her son had not only had sex, but that his girlfriend, albeit one of three years, was now expecting? And he wasn't sure how his father would react either. Everyone saw him as too much of a child, primarily because of his clumsy ways; this was definitely going to change perceptions, even seeming out of character.

Once Rey was born, how would their lives change? What sort of arrangement would they have to make? So many questions ran through his mind that he closed his eyes in an attempt to silence them, breathing out, but it was not as affective as he hoped. To boot, it also created another problem, Rika's pregnancy wouldn't go unnoticed for much longer, be it to friends, relatives, and their fellow schoolchildren, not to mention the press and Digital Watch. They'd have a field day.

Takato tightened his fist in anger at himself. How could he simply consider those factors, and not the emotions of the girl he'd fallen in love with? She'd go through so much in the coming months, and Takato knew that she was expecting him for guidance. He'd said so many times that he'd be there for her, even when he had doubts about himself. But Takato knew that even his words couldn't help, Rika had a habit of bottling her true emotions up, pretending to the world (convincingly or unconvincingly) that she could find. Rika may have found some solace in Takato's words, but Chaos saw through it. Heck, even he could see through it, knowing Rika better than anyone, possibly with the exception of Renamon, Harmony and of course, Rika herself. She'd need more than simple words.

Takato shook his head, the idea was insane, and better left for a lot later in their lives. At the moment, they had far too many problems to deal with.

'_Just sleep…please sleep…'_ he thought, closing his eyes.

* * *

**Somewhere**

"Okay, so where the hell am I then?" the boy called again, his voice echoing somehow despite the area lacking walls. The words reverberated off unseen objects, suddenly coming back to him far louder than they left, forcing him to cover his ears.

The boy's eyes moved gradually out of bewilderment as he looked for anything in the inky blackness (excepting the star-like pinpricks of light) that could've caused the effect, before he slowly moved his hands away from his ears.

"Okay, that was weird…" he whispered, trying to avoid the effect again. The sound came back at near-normal levels, as the boy decided to be more careful, slowly whispering each word, and shaking whenever the sound became too loud. "I…think…I…need…to…come…up…with…a…plan…"

He frowned at the reverberations, glancing at his hands and crossing them in front of his chest.

"RETCON!" he called out loud, the sound echoing back loudly through wherever he was, but nothing happening. He groaned in annoyance, looking around as the groan returned, and cupping his hands around his mouth, shouting loudly and then promptly covering his ears. "MARI! MARI! IT'S RYDER! I'M STUCK IN HERE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM!"

He waited for the sound creeping past even his hands covering his ears to stop, and looked around, frowning once again. He pinched himself, frowning at the lack of pain.

'_So…this is my own dreams then…god, I hope I can wake myself up sometime soon…'_

The lights suddenly began to group once again into an image, Ryder covering his eyes to shield himself from the blinding light.

* * *

**Nonaka Residence**

**02:29 JST**

The pillow collided with the table, the D-Vice placed on it dropping to the floor with a clunk, as Rika breathed deeply. "Why the hell can't I sleep?" she said quietly, growling with each word to make up for the fact she couldn't scream at the top of her voice.

She glanced around, curious to the fact that Renamon hadn't yet turned up. Then again, she did expect her fox-like partner to consider that it could've been a product of her mood swings, and leave her to her own time to think through her problems, which were emphasised by her new condition.

She slammed her head down on the second pillow, uncovered by the displacement of the one that once covered it. Nothing seemed straight-forward any more, she couldn't even trust her emotions any more. Anger faded, replaced by sadness as she stared up at the ceiling beams, frowning.

'_How am I going to manage this?'_ she thought, once again unconsciously placing her hand on her still-flat belly, something she knew would soon be over. She'd have to tell her parents and her friends before it became more obvious. Hell, it wouldn't be long before the whole world could tell. She wasn't exactly an unknown; being the daughter of a famous model, a Tamer who had saved the world, and a multi-tournament winner at the card game gave her of all people a press image. She could only begin to imagine what the press would say about her teenage pregnancy, not to mention Digital Watch. Digital Watch knew plenty about their lives already, even her bra size (still a mystery), so they would inevitably be the first to figure it out. And then…they could react in any way…she only hoped she would be able to summon up the courage to tell her friends and parents before it reached that point.

She turned her head to the side, feeling her eyes well with tears, clenching them shut to hold it back.

'_Takato said he'd always be by my side…'_ she repeated in her mind, her eyes snapping open and a few tears pouring down her saddened face.

She clenched her teeth, gripping her sheets tightly as she tried to reassure herself with her own words. Takato said he'd be there for her; Takato was always going to be there for her, whatever happened.

Her mind threw its weight against this, looking for some way to make the situation worse. "So where is he now?" she asked, feeling further tears pour freely.

She bit her lip hard, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to block out the thought, causing it to pervade her consciousness further.

"I hate myself…" she muttered, grabbing the sheets tighter, and burrowing her head into the single pillow. She groaned, stretching herself out as she struggled to sleep. She pushed herself up, walking groggily over to the table, picking up the creased pillow and casting her glance down to her D-Vice. She frowned at the time, **03:40** in the morning. Why couldn't she sleep? What cruel god of fate thought it fun to tease her like this?

She growled silently at her daughter Rey, her mind making a link where there wasn't any. Takato would pay for causing her insomnia, she would…

Rika stopped herself mid-thought, frowning and feeling guilt and regret cross her. _'No…it's my fault…I know it is…'_

"_**It really isn't your fault alone…"**_

Why was she blaming herself again and again? Why was she treating Takato like he could do no wrong? Maybe she'd always felt that way, Takato was the one of them who was rarely depressed or saddened. Anger in fact seemed to be his strongest emotion, well beyond that of most people. She rarely saw him sad though, but Takato seemed to have a habit of keeping things bottled up. She could see it from time to time in his eyes, she'd wanted to bring it up, but she'd held herself back. But why? Was she afraid of her perception of him changing?

She sat back on the floor, clutching her legs in a way similar to the foetal position (an irony she would've noticed at any other time), but not shaking in the way that pose implies. She stared into her pale-skinned legs, the darkness of the room (excepting the dim city light through the translucent door) making them hard to see until her eyes fully adapted to the limited light. They had begun to pale and glow slightly, as her mind continued to wander through her thoughts.

Her heart yearned for him, but her mind (and sense) acted far more realistically. It was the middle of the night for god's sakes; Takato was going to be fast asleep by now. Not only that, but her parents (and probably his too) would be uneasy with him staying over, in case they did anything they would regret.

'_Ah the irony…'_ she thought sadly, glancing up slightly and grasping her D-Vice, the device activating as it felt her pulse and her energy fed into it. The screen lit up, but oddly failed to be harsh on the eyes, almost as if it was linked to her perception and consciousness rather than being an ordinary screen. She pondered where that particular thought had come from, before considering that it would probably be one of Harmony's latent thoughts leaking forth into her mind.

She grasped the object tight in her hands, as if it were her only hope in the world. She looked at the screen, her mind noting that Renamon was currently sleeping according to it. She considered calling her partner in order to have someone to talk to, but she didn't want to trouble Renamon with her mood swings.

She glared at the device's screen, attaching it to her wrist and running through the screens, as if looking for an answer. She frowned; she didn't know what she was expecting to find in its memory.

'_I need you Takato…no…I don't…I mean…not all the time but…great, I'm beginning to sound like him...even in my thoughts…'_

Rika groaned, crawling back to her bed with pillow in hand, thumping it down on top of the other one as the air spread out of it. She herself fell back on the bed, beyond bothering about removing her D-Vice as she stared at the ceiling, pulling her covers up and rolling onto her side, pulling her arms close to herself.

"Just…sleep…" she muttered. "Please…sleep…"

* * *

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**03:02 JST**

Realmon frowned, pressing her head into her front paws where she lay on the floor of the apartment. Her nine tails lightly stroked her head where she lay, the gentle touch substituting for that of her Tamer, who currently slept soundly on the sofa above. Sure, Rey could've used Ryder's unused bed, but she had decided against it, instead preferring to use the sofa out of a mix of respect and fear. The girl had definitely inherited her father's habit for being able to sleep easily, something the fox would've appreciated at the moment. Imagining everyone in the city but her being asleep saddened her, the fox feeling alone.

She'd felt alone for a while.

Sure, she was almost always with Rey, today being one of the rare times when the pair were separated, but lately she'd felt…distant. They spoke, and telepathed, but it was always shallow talk. Rey had once told her partner all her problems, but now she seemed to keep them all hidden from even her. What was worrying her so much that she couldn't even tell her closest friend? Sure, there must've been some things she'd only told him, but they never seemed to get to her normally.

Seeing Rey, the wonderful, quirky, lively girl, hiding her feelings from her closest friend and partner saddened the miniature version of Renamon's champion form. She had to get through to her, but how? Rey had unfortunately inherited habits of keeping her feelings hidden from all but her partner, and the combination of Rika's and Takato's habits in this had seemingly pushed it to the point where even that wasn't possible.

Realmon hoped for some battling action soon, something she never thought she'd be hoping for. Getting to stretch her legs in her higher forms sounded like a great way to relieve her stress and concern, albeit a barbaric way. Her champion form was simply powerful, her ultimate form more tactical, and this choice of strategies had proved greatly useful to Rey during the war.

Realmon frowned, curling up more tightly, and clutching herself with her tails.

'_Just sleep…please…sleep…'_

* * *

**04:15 JST**

Mari turned over, opening her eyes once again as she struggled to put herself to sleep. She glanced to her D-Vice on the bedstand (thankfully working as normal, even with its trip into the toilet), frowning at the time.

"Quarter past four in the morning…" she moaned softly, turning over and closing her eyes, yawning as her auburn hair was ruffled and spread about on the pillow. "Just sleep…please sleep…" she muttered.

A sound moved in the blackness of the room, and Mari sat up, eyes widening as she looked to the figure now sat at the end of the bed, her pale pink silk pyjamas moving with her.

"Ryder?" she asked, looking to the boy at the end of the bed, looking completely real.

"You look like you've seen a ghost..." he replied, smiling a brief smile.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so things become yet more interesting. The next chapter is particularly good, and emotional too, so you don't want to miss it. Anyhow, keep up with the reviews, and I'll keep up with the writing.

Next time…

Will they ever get to sleep? What is Rey hiding? What's Ryder doing in Mari's bedroom all of a sudden?

Find out in 'His Feather', Chapter Twenty-Four of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	24. His Feather

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

Expect the whole 'Ryder in Mari's bedroom' thing to be explained in Chapter 25.

* * *

**CHAPTER 24**

_His Feather_

* * *

**Somewhere**

Ryder opened his eyes again, once the new location came into view, gasping in surprise at what he saw.

"So, is…is this home?" Ryder asked, glancing around at the bedroom he had ended up in, one familiar from so many years of childhood and adolescence. It looked all too familiar, but at the same time, his experiences of these visions had taught him that nothing was ever that simple here. "Hmm…" he pondered, turning and carefully opening the door, glancing through at the familiar hallway, and walking along it, tapping the wall to check it was actually real. His hands met matter; this was definitely more than just a simple vision. He turned, entering another room and coming to a window, his gaze passing out over the garden, and the inky blackness beyond. It was a confusing sight.

He frowned, looking around at the blackness leading away in all directions. Where the colour and shapes of the garden ended, as well as where the house ended, the darkness begun, albeit lacking the colourful stars and being foggy around the edges. It was as if this house and garden were floating within the darkness.

"Well…that's not normal…what, hasn't my mind got enough RAM to include all of this?" he noted to himself, sighing and turning, walking back into the hallway and looking along to the rest of the house. "Mum? Dad?" he called, frowning when he failed to receive a reply. He listened for a short while, anxious to hear whether he would receive a response or not, before deciding to call for another familiar to him. "MiniDonmon?" he called, shaking his head after a period of inactivity. Usually, MiniDonmon would've turned up by now, unless of course his parents were nearby. Which of course, they weren't, since he'd been unable to get their attention by shouting.

He walked back into his bedroom, pausing as he glanced around at the bed, the computer, and the window, the blackness leading away from it still. He pinched his arm, noting the continuing lack of pain, a clear sign that he was still in a dream world. He fell backwards onto his bed; it felt soft and comforting, as well as giving him a now rare sense of familiarity. He wondered whether he would ever see the real thing again, as he ran his hand along the soft mattress, creasing it only slightly.

'_Hopeful thoughts…'_ he thought morosely about his wishes to see the bed's real equivalent, as he settled down on the chair by his PC. He switched it on, frowning at how quickly it took, perception of time clearly not existing in this world. He glanced to the time, first looking to his non-existent D-Vice out of habit, before looking to the clock in the corner, flicking from one seemingly-arbitrary time to another, even displaying impossible times and letters at some points. There was no pattern to them; it was definitely a dream, albeit a highly realistic one. He logged into the internet, going to a familiar website.

Nothing happened. A frown crept across his face, as he attempted to browse to the page again.

Nothing. Did the website just cease to exist or something? He repeatedly pressed the button, before sighing, falling back into his chair as the 404 error continued. It was a shame, he'd hoped that in his dreams he could at least do some realistic things, but nothing seemed to work like that.

'_Stupid imagination…'_ he thought, before his ears noted a noise from downstairs, which he soon recognised as the sound of the front door to the house opening. He stood up in alarm upon hearing a voice, one which he thought was currently absent from the house.

"Oh…hello…" the female voice greeted, as Ryder moved along the hallway quietly and carefully.

"Hello Mrs Stevens…" greeted another female voice, as saddened as the first. "Can I…?" she began, sorrow not once leaving her voice.

"Go ahead" Ryder's mother answered sadly, as Ryder looked down from the upstairs hallway at the front door, keeping himself slightly hidden behind one of the walls. The girl nodded, smiling sadly and heading up the stairs after Ryder's mother gestured. Ryder noticing the girl's unusual attire. She was dressed in an all-black dress, contrasting with her blonde hair, the only item that remained in its normal colour. Why was she wearing all-black clothes? Considering it, why was his mother doing the same? What was going on?

Once they reached the upstairs hallway, Lunamon leapt off the girls shoulder, beginning to follow her partner. The rabbit kept her distance from the visibly saddened blonde, trying to be as tactful and careful as she could in order to avoid hurting the girl's feelings with any unintentional taboos. Ryder dodged to the side out of instinct as she headed down the upstairs hallway towards his room, although doubting that he needed to. He didn't seem to have been noticed by her anyway, and she walked straight past him without even a second glance. Did he really not exist? But why wasn't he falling through the floor, or able to fly? To boot, why was he able to turn on the computer? This broke a lot of rules of invisibility, and intangibility. Then again, it did seem to be a dream, so anything could be possible.

Upon reaching the closed bedroom door, Ivy turned round to face Lunamon, who looked up to her Tamer, a look of concern and care mixed in with her curiosity. A voiceless message ran between them as Lunamon nodded, stopping in the hallway. Ivy stepped forward, opening the door and stepping through, closing it afterwards, as Lunamon and Ryder's mother looked at each other sadly. Ryder frowned, before stepping through his bedroom door, pausing only afterwards to question what he had done. He had somehow just stepped through an object that earlier on he had been able to touch. Something very strange was going on here.

"Huh?" Ivy noted. "Why's his PC on?" she added, Ryder raising an eyebrow. Maybe he had some level of influence on this world, in terms of being tangible and existent, even if not actually visible. Then again, what's to say this wasn't just a dream? Why were there going to be rules in this world?

She frowned, kneeling down beside the computer and switching it off. She glanced to her D-Vice, noting the lack of any Digital signals nearby, other than her partner on the other side of the door. She pondered about the computer, before deciding that Ryder's mother must have turned it on. She turned and stood up, sitting on his bed gently. She began to look around the room. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. She tried to picture Ryder living in this particular room, sighing at the thought.

"I really would've liked to see this place before you…you know…" she noted out loud, hoping that no-one had their ears to the door. From what she'd seen of Ryder's mother, she knew that she wasn't that kind of person, and she knew for a fact that her partner wouldn't try listening in.

'_Huh? Is she talking to me?'_ Ryder pondered, looking curiously at the girl from where he stood in the centre of the room. She looked uncomfortable at talking out loud, even with the fact she was not within earshot of anyone.

"I mean…I don't think you actually died but…I don't know if you're ever coming back…" she added, frowning sadly as she continued to talk to her imaginary version of him, only Ryder noting the irony that she was actually talking to the real him. "Maybe…maybe it'd have been better if I never found out about your true feelings…I mean…I know your…our friends were simply trying to be helpful…but…now I just have to live in not knowing what happened to you…"

She looked around, looking straight through him. Ryder felt her gaze, her eyes seemingly locking onto his at one point, before she frowned, shaking her head. Ryder cocked his head, could she see him or not? What was going on? Did he like, slightly exist or something?

"Still…what's done is done…" she noted. "We…we haven't seen him again yet…it could only be days and…we're going to have to find out how to defeat him…Arkadimon must be stopped…we're all fighting in your name now…I'm the group's new leader…I watched the show and researched everything in order to figure out what to do…maybe we'll reach mega level then or something…maybe you already have, wherever you are…good for you anyway if you have…"

She looked sorrowfully around, frowning as the comfort faded again, paranoia about someone listening settling in once again.

"We…we subdued him again…because he came back…ultimate level still…we help him back because Lunamon digivolved to her ultimate form, Crescemon…and after that, all the others have reached their ultimate forms…but…he still escaped again once we thought we had won…and I know he'll be back to attack again…and we'll be ready, you can trust me on that…"

She looked to the floor, frowning further as she shook her head at herself, as if correcting or dismissing something.

"I came to return something…" she noted, finally getting to the point of her being there.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a curious item as Ryder raised an eyebrow. It was a feather, like a bird's feather, albeit slightly larger than the average bird's feather. It wasn't a natural colour though (except maybe for a parrot), with red and orange patterns running along it, a beautiful fiery colour. Ryder looked oddly at the item, as she carefully placed it on the desk, pausing as she did so to explain what it was to 'him'.

"I found it on the floor…it was the only other time I came here…I'm surprised that no-one else noticed it…I didn't tell anyone…but…I felt guilty…I mean, what if it were the key to you returning? Anyway…I brought it back…I hope that's okay?" she asked, her eyes looking close to where his were.

She frowned quickly, shaking her head as if in disbelief at herself.

"I really should avoid talking to myself…I'm taking on your habits…" she said, chuckling slightly. "Anyway…I'll always remember you…maybe one day I'll figure out why…you can keep this feather…I'll…I'll find something else to remember you by…" she noted, glancing around at the room and the objects within it, before stopping herself. "No…that'd be stealing…but…anyway…I guess this…I guess this is goodbye…" she said.

Ryder stepped forward, ready to pull her into an embrace, before seeing his hand go straight through her. He frowned, glancing at his hand as the 'reality' of the situation dawned on him once again. He looked to his side, to the feather on the desk, as the girl looked to the floor. Ryder smiled weakly, an idea occurring to him. He picked up the feather, dropping it carefully from a point out of Ivy's view. It floated down gently towards her hands, landing on them as she glanced up, unknowing that she was looking straight into his eyes. He smiled bravely, forgetting once again that he didn't exist, or at least not directly. Ivy smiled.

"I guess this means I should keep this…thanks…well…at least I think it was you…you always did seem slightly strange, after all…" she said, smiling at the memories that flooded through her of Tamership, of partnership, of being trapped in the Digital World as a group. "Well…goodbye…" she said, standing up, and walking to the door. Ryder followed, near to wanting to put his arms around her, before an image of Mari flashed through his mind and he paused.

'_What am I doing?'_ he asked himself, looking at his hands. _'No wonder Mari is so irritated by all this…'_ he added upon contemplating his girlfriend. He noticed his mother, father and Ivy, along with Lunamon, standing below by the door. He looked down at them, cocking his head at what they were doing.

"Ready to go?" Lunamon asked, stroking Ivy's hair with one of her ears. Ivy frowned, nodding, as she followed his parents through the door into the outside.

Ryder stepped forward to follow, suddenly noticing his surroundings change. He stopped in surprise, looking around and quickly recognising where he was, as everything about what was going on back at home finally clicked into place. The reason Ivy was upset, the reason they were all wearing black, the reason they had left as a group.

"A cemetery?" he asked, noticing lines of headstones running off in directions. Apart from a small group nearby, all wearing black, the place was deserted. He walked towards them, quickening into a run, before pausing at the sight. There was no casket, there wouldn't be, there was no body. Birdsong sounded around those sitting on a series of seats overlooking one particular headstone. A reverend stood facing them, finishing his reading.

It was his funeral.

"Even with his shortened life, he managed to touch all our hearts and minds. May he forever be remembered in our eyes as in the eyes of God" the man said, some of the audience nodding.

'_Great…why am I having a Christian funeral? I'm not even remotely religious. Meh, who am I kidding, I'm a ghost watching my own funeral, as well as being an Angel and knowing a real God…couldn't get more religious…'_

Ivy stood up, attracting Ryder's attention as he turned to face the audience. The other three of his fellow Tamers, plus partners, alongside her, sat alongside. As well as that, the audience featured relatives and friends. Ivy walked forward, Ryder's attention drawn to her.

"Um…thank you all for coming…" she said nervously. "I'm Ivy and…I guess…I was Ryder's love interest…well…I didn't find out until after he…left us…but…well, all I can really say is that I'm going to miss him…we all are…I hope he's still alive, it'd be great to hear his voice even, but this mystery just continues to run deep, and the chances of his returning shrink daily…so, we are here to remember him in his life, at least with us…"

Ivy frowned sadly, turning to the headstone, Ryder following her gaze as he noticed engraving on it, before looking back to Ivy as she continued talking.

"Goodbye Ryder…" she said. Ryder stepped forwards, once again trying to take her into his arms, before feeling nothing, and once again feeling regret at himself for what he had done. How could he allow himself to forget the girl he had back in his new home? Ryder shook his head, trying to dismiss any thoughts about Ivy, as he turned, crouching down to look at the headstone.

**Ryder Stevens**

**1993-**

**Partner, Lover, Friend**

**May we never forget him, wherever he may be.**

**Please come home, or rest in peace.**

Ryder frowned, noting the surrealism of the whole situation. He was dead, and he was attending his own funeral, albeit as a ghost.

He glanced up to Ivy, noting the red and orange feather clutched in her hand. She smiled bravely, looking to the audience, despite the small tears gathering in her eyes. She had lost not only a friend and fellow Tamer, but someone that she might have once had a future with.

"I chose the wording…" she noted, almost as if telling him personally. Ryder nodded, glancing to the wording and noting the absence of a death date. He smiled bravely himself; so long as she hoped for his return, she could be happy.

If only he could be.

Ryder stood again, walking across to Ivy and reaching for her hand.

He looked on in alarm as his hand grabbed matter, glowing periodically in the process. Ivy looked to him; horror in her eyes at seeing someone she thought was dead. Ryder noticed the absence of a reaction from the observers nearby. Could Ivy see him? Was she the only one who could see him? What did this mean? And how on earth was he going to explain this?

"Ryder?" she asked speechlessly, looking to him with a mix of shock and longing.

"I can't stay…" he noted in response, before secretly cursing himself at answering in such a tactless and blunt way. She frowned, looking to him sadly. She glanced across and noted that time had seemingly stopped, or at least slowed to a gradual crawl. Her gaze deviated to the headstone. Ryder felt the as the girl's hand grasped his tightly, she trying to grab a hold on him along with her sense of reality. She looked over him, cocking her head in questioning.

"Where are you?" she asked, looking up to his eyes.

"A world away from here…" he answered, frowning.

"Oh…" she replied, contemplating what he meant. "Is it heaven?"

"No…it's…it's just another world…" he replied, shaking his head.

"The Digital World?" she asked, Ryder getting the feeling she wanted him to be reachable, to be possible to rescue.

Ryder shook his head, saddened by being unable to fulfil the girl's hopes. If only he were in the Digital World, it'd make things so much simpler. "No…it's another universe entirely…"

"I see…" she replied, sadly as the conversation paused.

Eyes glanced down, before meeting once again, brown orbs meeting brown orbs as they stared at each other for a short while Ryder suddenly felt his head tilt to the right, almost as if disconnected from his own body's actions. She doing likewise as they drew closer, and closer, and closer.

'_Mari…will…kill…me…'_ he thought, before shrugging in his mind and continuing forward into a kiss, lasting a few seconds as Ryder questioned how on earth he would explain all of this. He decided that Mari was better off not knowing. They soon pulled away from each other, looking to each other's eyes for what to do now. She clasped his hand again, gripping him to reality.

"How long do you have?" she asked, Ryder feeling morose at the deep sadness this girl was pouring out to him, with no him having no way of truly comforting her. He could never say that everything would be okay; he had no idea about anything any more. These visions had thrown him completely for a loop. And he wasn't going to lie, not in what could be their final encounter with each other.

"No idea…I'm not even sure what's going on now…last real thing I remember was being knocked out by a Mammothmon…so…I think I'm unconscious now. I've seen a few things in these dreams…my life in this world, my life in that world, and you guys…I…I gave you that feather earlier…I…I moved it…" he said, pressing the feather to her hand. She nodded gradually as realisation swept across her, further surprise filling her features, although it was limited by the fact that she was already surprised enough.

"Thanks…" she replied after a while. He nodded, looking around, frowning at how uncomfortable the situation had become, and pooling his thoughts. He silently swallowed a lump in his throat before looking back to her.

"Look…there's something I want you to do…" he asked.

"What is it? I'll do anything!" she said, her voice slightly desperate. She clearly hoped that he'd tell her how to recover him from wherever he had ended up.

"Forget me…" he answered. She looked at him in further surprise, cocking her head in confusion. What had he just said? She must have heard him wrong.

"Huh?"

"Please…I may never come back, and I don't want to ruin your life by doing that. Okay, maybe I don't want you to forget me but…please…live a wonderful life without me…find someone, fall in love and grow old and happy together…fight battles in my name and lead the Tamers to victory…just be fantastic in everything you do…okay?" he answered, her listening intently to his every word, and he noticing every single reaction, every sadness, every slight nod of agreement and thankfulness. She ended up frowning, pulling him close in an embrace, as he kissed her on the lips again. Yeah, this was definitely something that he wasn't going to tell Mari about. It could've been a dream anyway, although…it did seem too real. Maybe he was manifesting back home, or maybe he was in Ivy's imagin…

"Can you do the same?" she asked, looking back into his eyes again, he now taking his turn to cock his head as he was blindsided by the question during his musings. "Find someone in your universe, and be happy yourself" she clarified.

Ryder nodded in agreement, smiling to reassure her. "Okay…I will…" he told her. _'I think I already have…'_ he mentally added. She smiled, nodding happily. It was not a joyful happiness, but a sorrowful happiness, at the prospect of another being happy, but never seeing them again.

"Thanks…" she said quietly, not sure if it was what she wanted or not. She decided to change the subject, as she felt the feather now gripped between their clasped hands. "Do you know what the feather is?"

"No, no idea…sorry…" he answered, truly stumped by this one. Had it appeared when he vanished? He frowned, looking down.

She smiled to reassure him this time around. "Don't worry…I'm sure one of us will one day figure it out…" she said, raising his gaze to her eyes.

"Yeah…" he answered sadly, the prospect of never being able to tell the other concerning him.

She frowned, as he suddenly faded, before returning to normal. "You're leaving now, aren't you?" she asked forlornly, knowing that this truly was the end.

He frowned, nodding, before the pair moved their lips together, and shared a final kiss. He pulled away gradually, gazing continually into her eyes once again, for the last time.

"Goodbye" she said sadly, holding his hand as tight as possible.

"Never say goodbye…" he corrected, smiling. "Just say, see you later…" he added.

She nodded in response, understanding why he didn't want them to think this was definitely the final time. "See you later…" she replied.

"See you later…" he echoed.

Ryder suddenly felt himself and his consciousness in this reality fade. A thought passed through his consciousness just before he left completely. He looked up to her, he now almost completely see-through, and said some words that would puzzle her for some time.

"The coordinates are twenty-nine repeated nine times…" he said, fading to nothing as she looked into the air where he once stood.

Those watching frowned at the girl, seemingly saddened by a surfacing memory of the boy, as time resumed. The girl looked on, a look of confusion on her face. She pressed the fact he had told her into memory, it had to be important.

She clutched the feather tightly as she turned to face them.

Somehow, nothing felt as bad about his death anymore.

'_Thanks…'_ she thought.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Really didn't expect to draw this out into a whole chapter, but I did, and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. A nice emotional chapter, focusing entirely on the Mari/Ryder/Ivy triangle, along with a glimpse of Ryder's universe. The exact science of how it all worked will be explained in due course, but for now, the emotions are far more interesting to me. Please review. 

Next time…

Will Mari ever find out? Will Ryder ever wake up? Will Ryder ever get home? What is Ryder doing in Mari's room?

Find out in 'His Goggles', Chapter Twenty-Five of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.


	25. His Goggles

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

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**CHAPTER 25**

_His Goggles_

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**REAL WORLD**

**Stevens and Flynn Residence**

**04:17 JST**

**5****th**** July 2010**

Mari's mouth was held slightly open, as she stared on at the boy sitting in the end of the bed, a silence having descended since Ryder greeted her. She was speechless as she looked at him, her mind trying to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. Wasn't he in the hospital? Did he escape? Why? Or was he a ghost? Had he…had he…died?

She glanced over him, noting the complete disappearance of all of his injuries and the damage to his clothes. His D-Vice was strapped to his arm, but the time on the screen changed arbitrarily each time she looked back to it. She cocked an eyebrow at this, before deciding that she'd need to ask to find out what was really going on here.

"Aren't…are you…" she spluttered, finally getting past her speechlessness into a state that was unfortunately no more coherent.

"Dead? No…not exactly" Ryder answered, as Mari continued to stare on. He said that a bit too confidently, not completely like him. Had he suffered brain damage or something?

"So…did…did you…recover?" she asked, the words returning to her gradually. "Really quickly?" she added, pointing out the fact that, if this was actually him, he'd made a remarkable recovery in a short space of time. An unprecedented recovery, in fact, after his injuries.

Ryder shook his head, glancing down at the bed, and then back to Mari. Mari gestured for him to come closer, and he did, moving along the side of the bed. Mari put out her hand, and touched his shoulder, Ryder watching her expressions as her eyes widened in amazement as contact was made. He didn't seem to be a ghost.

"You're real?" she asked, reaching out further to touch his cheek, feeling the warmth as she paused in amazement.

Ryder frowned, nodding as she drew him close, leaning into each other and sharing a kiss that was definitely real. After pulling away, Mari stared into Ryder's eyes in a mix of surprise and happiness, before she frowned as he sat up straight again, trying to figure out was exactly was going on here. Something was definitely amiss.

"What happened to your injuries?" she asked, pressing her hand against his side carefully, then harder, noting that he didn't exhibit any pain, or have any damage to the skin underneath. She lifted his shirt slightly, noting that there really were no visible signs of injury. Had…had she dreamt the whole thing? Did Ryder never go to hospital in the first place? Was Rika really pregnant? Was Rey telling her the truth about the Angels?

Ryder sighed, looking to her and putting his hand on top of hers as she looked up into his glance intently, waiting for his answer. "Mari…you're asleep…" he said, his voice wavering oddly as he said it, like it wasn't fixed on a particular voice.

"Huh?" Mari asked, cocking her head as the pair looked into each others' eyes. She couldn't understand what he was implying; she didn't remember going to sleep. Quite the opposite, actually, she struggled to get to sleep in the first place. "What do you mean?" she asked, voicing her concerns.

"Mari, I'm not really Ryder, I'm simply a figment of your imagination" he answered, his voice wavering once again as he closed his eyes to speak, opening them and looking back into hers. His eyes had oddly changed colour, going from brown to green. This disturbed Mari, as she tried to comprehend what he was telling her. A figment of her imagination? So why was she imagining him then? She pondered whether she had gone insane at some point.

"A figment of my imagination? But…" she began, but Ryder interrupted her.

"Think of something you want me to say. Imagine it into existence. You know, like you can do in your dreams."

Mari closed her eyes and concentrated on a series of words that she presumed were unnatural for him to say, opening them again as Ryder spoke, confirming what he had said in the process.

"The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42" Ryder said, in a voice not quite like his own. It seemed to vary slightly as well as he spoke, even switching to an odd American accent at one point from his usual British one. Mari frowned, she'd imagined him to say those words; he really was just a figment of her imagination.

"Oh…" she said, as Ryder nodded, noting the realisation dawning on the girl. "So why are you here? When did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Well, you couldn't get to sleep, could you? So you may have finally just fallen asleep…" he suggested.

"I see."

"And as to why I'm here…I have no idea, maybe you subconsciously dreamt me into existence in order to get some answers? I can understand why. Well, not me, but you, but me…this is confusing for me too, and I'm actually you" Ryder said, groaning to mirror Mari's current confusion on the subject. Dreams never made sense when analysed closely.

"Well…I could do with some answers…" she began, before pausing and frowning as a thought occurred to her. "…but…if you're a figment of my imagination, you can't give me any new answers, can you?"

Ryder frowned, shaking his head slightly. "Still looks like you could do with someone to talk to though" he answered, his voice caring and his stance open to talking.

"Yeah" Mari answered. She frowned as she glanced around the room, noticing a few inaccuracies within it. The shape of walls. The colours of objects. The fact that there seemed to be light despite no light source being turned on. This really was a dream world.

She eventually turned back to Ryder, who seemed to have not taken on an impatient stance after her hesitation. Whoever he was, he was not a real person. But maybe he could answer some of her questions anyway.

"Are you going to recover?" she asked, once again not wanting to hear the answer. She didn't want her fears to be confirmed, it was better to have a sliver of hope in her mind. But she still wanted to know nonetheless.

"Do you think I will?" he replied, confirming that he couldn't actually give her any new information beyond what she already knew. He awaited her answer, as she paused, formulating her response to the question that had surprised her slightly.

"I hope you do…but I've learnt to hope for the best but expect the worst" she answered.

"Understandable…" he replied, in a voice once again distant from his own, as he nodded. "What are you going to do once I wake up?" he asked, looking back into her eyes.

"I will want to find out why you froze up…and…I want to find out about Ivy…" she answered, hesitating in nervousness about the last part.

"I see" he responded, his pause echoing her uncertainty and nervousness about the issue. "So you think I will wake up then?" he asked, changing the subject slightly. Mari frowned; she knew that it was actually herself dodging the issue.

"Well…maybe…I hope you do…" she began, hesitating, before simply spilling her feelings that she'd had plenty of time to mull over. "I don't know what I'd do without you to be honest."

Ryder frowned at her sadness, glancing down to the bed, before looking back up to Mari with a knowing expression as he moved to the other thing she had planned once he woke up. "I think you already know why I froze up."

"Huh?" she replied, blindsided by the change of subject, as Ryder continued to talk nonetheless.

"You deny it continuously to avoid coming to terms with it. But in your dreams…in this dream…you have less control over what you think. And I know what you think" he stated, matter-of-factly, as his confident gaze cast deep into her soul.

Mari nodded, smiling weakly as she decided that she wasn't going to answer him in this case, and instead decided to humour him. "You always were able to give complex explanations for things" she answered, a larger smile taking on her face.

"Yeah…did it make any sense?" he answered, breaking into a grin. This was definitely more like him, incomprehensible explanations followed by uncertainty at whether anyone understood what he had actually just blabbered on about. It was amusing as well to watch.

"A bit" she replied, he chuckling in response.

"Good" he replied, as they paused, awaiting who would ask a question next. Mari realised that it'd have to be her.

"So what about Ivy?" she asked, her gaze and expression turning more serious as she tilted her head inquisitively.

"You will need to find that out from me myself" he answered, switching back to his serious tone.

"I see" she replied, her gaze moving from his as she looked to the bed, noting that rather than the blankets feeling soft and comfortable, they felt solid and rough. She pondered why she was having this particular dream.

"Why are you at home?" Ryder asked, Mari looking at him oddly until she realised that it was her own deep question that she was asking herself. His eyes gazed into her, searching her with his question, or rather her question. A question that she could only acknowledge once it was asked to her by someone else, or at least a manifestation of someone else. It saddened her to think how much she had pushed away these searching questions to avoid finding answers she didn't want, as she frowned, her gaze deviating from his, before moving back as she felt that she was pulled back into his stare.

"They suggested…I needed…some rest…" she answered, feeling uneasy under his gaze. She wasn't entirely sure why, it wasn't actually him, but…it seemed so real. "I wanted to be by your side" she added, trying to justify herself and shift the blame. Ryder frowned, before putting his hand on hers upon noticing her saddened expression.

"Hope for the best, but expect the worst…" he answered, smiling to reassure her as their gazes met. She nodded, noting how he echoed her own words back to her. Mari frowned, looking down once again as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"I want to be there when…if…you die…" she answered nervously, there being a pause of hesitancy afterwards as Mari couldn't bring herself to share his glance. Ryder nodded, a grin coming across his face, as he lifted her head to face him, smiling at her as she looked to him curiously.

"Well hurry up then" he said, before vanishing into thin air. The world vanished to an inky blackness before Mari could reply with her surprise at what he had said.

Her brown eyes blinked open, dispelling one darkness for another one that was slightly brighter, as she sat up, feeling reality set in again. The room was lit dully by a window, but other from that (and her D-Vice left on the side-table) it was still dark. She yawned, and then pinched herself, wincing at the pain.

'_This is definitely reality'_ she thought, as she rubbed her now-sore arm.

She reached across and switched on the bed table lamp. She groaned groggily as she sat up, her eyes adjusting to the blinding light as she closed them periodically. She opened them again, waiting for her eyes to adapt to it, and pushed herself up, reaching across to pick up her D-Vice. She lifted it to her eyes, reading the numbers with a frown.

"Half four…great…and I was hoping to get some sleep…" she muttered, standing up and strapping the D-Vice on her wrist as she did so. She frowned, was she really planning to go to the hospital entirely based on a dream? Did he really mean that she had to get there? Then again, it was her own mind telling her that she had to go, so was she just telling herself something she subconsciously knew already?

Mari groaned. She doubted she could get back to sleep anyway. She looked over to her jeans, plain black t-shirt and green jacket strewn over a chair, as she walked over to them, beginning to change and collecting various items from drawers as a curious thought occurred to her.

'_Ryder's going to need a new attire…'_ she realised, recalling that his clothes were now ripped and damaged beyond repair by both the impact and the hospital staff needing to remove them in order to operate.

A thought crossed her mind, and she considered the origins of that particular shirt which was now ripped in two. It was a shame to lose it; it looked good on him, particularly since it had his Pendant symbol on it. At the time she had been unknowing of how it happened exactly, but now she reasoned that it was Ryder subconsciously using his retcon ability. Either that, or the universe truly was completely screwed up and illogical.

She realised that lately there had been plenty of evidence for the later, as her arms went into the dull green jacket's sleeves. She rolled the sleeves along to their full length; it would no doubt be cold out at this time in the morning, even if it was supposed to be the summer. She placed her cell phone into her pocket, and walked over to the mirror, seeing her ruffled auburn hair. She frowned, adjusting it into its normal style, before pausing. She swept the hair back from her eyes, leaving it flowing around the face rather than down it like usually flowed. She pulled it back behind her head and put a hairband around it, forming a short ponytail pointing down the back of her neck. Her hair sprung loose, however, in places around the top of her head and her face, ironically improving on the look in her opinion.

She sighed; she was merely stalling for time while she confronted what she really was asking herself. Was she really going to the hospital at this early hour? She shook the uncertainty from her mind; she'd go there just to be sure. She was an Angel after all; who knew where she could be placing subtle hints for herself? Then again, subtle didn't exactly describe the hint this time around; it was far more explicit than that. Ryder may as well have said "Go to the hospital now." Then again, it was her own memory telling her that. She groaned, this was getting far too confusing.

"DarkRenamon…" she whispered unsurely, both because of not knowing whether DarkRenamon would come at the sound of her voice like her yellow counterpart did for Rika, and whether she was waking her partner in the process, something she didn't particularly want to do.

A black Kitsune materialised in front of her after a few seconds. She looked to her partner and cocked her head, both in response to the girl's changed hairstyle and the fact that she was up this early in the morning, when she expected the girl to be fast asleep. "You called?" she asked, a tone of curiously tied into her question. What did Mari want at this late hour? She'd observed Mari in the past even before they became partners (although trying not to infringe on her privacy), and she'd never woken up in the middle of the night for anything.

"I'm…going to see him…" the girl stated. DarkRenamon, without moving her face significantly, seemed to have concern about this. Mari frowned, she was clearly questioning her intentions, and she didn't blame the Kitsune for doing so.

"Isn't it a bit early?" the fox asked, one eye widening more than the other, which was imposing enough for Mari to feel the eyes looking deep into her for any hints. She couldn't think of a response, but she knew that she had to do what she had planned.

"Yeah…but…just trust me on this…I just have a feeling, that's all."

DarkRenamon closed her eyes, contemplating the situation and striking unease into Mari's heart. The fox nodded in response to an internal decision, and reopening her eyelids, once again revealing her green orbs. "Okay then. Shall we bring Rey and Realmon?" she asked, tilting her head and observing Mari.

"Hmm…" Mari pondered, quietly opening the door to the living room and walking to stand overlooking the figure sleeping peacefully on the sofa. From this point, she could also see a yellow fox sleeping calmly on the floor below, her tails pressed against her head in a strange manner which Mari decided not to inquire into. Mari turned to her partner and shook her head.

DarkRenamon nodded, as a few words drifted over their connection._"She…peaceful…sleeps…"_

Mari and DarkRenamon shared a frown, as Mari walked over to her lightly tanned brown bag, picking it up and putting the long strap over her shoulder. She turned to glimpse at the room, hearing Rey's and Realmon's gentle snores and smelling the remains of a pizza ordered the night before in the absence of any time to make actual dinner (although ironically, it made little difference as to the quality of the food. One of them someday had to actually learn how to cook).

Mari mused about how it was those little things in life that made it truly interesting (and bearable) and hoped they would be able to continue their lives that way once Ryder recovered. She turned, quietly leaving the apartment and heading to the elevator, her partner silently following, her step as graceful on the short carpets as it was on the metal floor of the elevator once it finally arrived.

Mari searched her pocket for a card, and pulled it out, as the elevator doors opened, and they walked out into the foyer. DarkRenamon glanced over at the card, Mari noticing. DarkRenamon nodded, as they walked outside into the cold air, Mari periodically wishing she'd brought more than her normal jacket. She wrapped it around herself, doing up the zip for warmth, as she turned to her partner once they reached the sidewalk.

"Ready?" she asked the fox, who nodded.

"As you wish…" the vixen replied, her voice calm and her stance refined.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!" Mari called, a flame-like dark blue light encompassing her partner as her D-Vice's screen spelt out the name of the process now to take place.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**DarkRenamon Digivolve to…Youkomon!**

Youkomon gestured onto her back with her tails. Mari stepped out of her momentary daze both at the awe of the process, and at the fact it was her partner doing so. A warm feeling filled her heart as she climbed onto the fox's back, grabbing onto the mane as she put her legs either side. Youkomon's green orbs looked up to her inquisitively.

"Are you ready Mari?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's get moving" Mari answered, as Youkomon began to move.

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**Somewhere**

The dark area with starlight pinpricks had returned, leaving Ryder near the end of his tether in boredom. "Why won't something happen?!" he asked annoyed, receiving no echo this time and merely a few blinks from the 'stars'. He sighed, glancing down sadly. However, down didn't exist, he had found that whatever way he was orientated, it made no difference. No up, no down, no nothing, just…nothing.

How was he going to get out of here? How long would it be? Was he unconscious? Or was he dead? Did all sense just go out the window or something?

The stars rapidly flew into a new image, as Ryder found himself back in his body, or rather, a dream representation of it. He felt surprised, but no expression to that respect showed on his face, as he recognised where he was. It was his old school again, on a typically boring school day during a boring break from their boring lessons. MiniDonmon's feet, a cross between talons and dinosaur feet, softly gripped onto his hair. If they became any tighter, Ryder knew that it'd get painful, but for now he decided to let it pass, as he felt a gentle wind ripple through the playground, ruffling up the grass nearby on the expansive fields, a site of many a battle in their time. They were always the toughest of bioemergences to deal with, since they were the most public. It had, or it would (Ryder still was unsure of exactly which position in time he had ended up in), prove to be the unveiling of their Digimon to the school, which would make their lives both easier and harder at the same time.

Before he'd left his world, MiniDonmon was even ending up causing him trouble with his teachers by not completely understanding the concept of being quiet, or doing work in class. He also seemed to have an amusing habit with computers where he managed to manipulate the systems using his abilities as a Digimon. This proved to annoy teachers, and Ryder on occasion, by changing the webpage on everyone's screens to a variety of pages, ranging from the disturbing to the amazing. Of course, normally, it had ended up on a Digimon website, which was always a giveaway. However, the bat had proved useful while explaining Digimon to the others using the internet, since he was able to circumvent the filters that normally blocked them.

Ryder was always the biggest fan of Digimon, one of the other boys in the group had a passing knowledge of it, and the rest all learnt as they went along, both from Ryder's teachings and from battle experience. This passion for the series led to Ryder having fantasies about things in the TV series: dark digivolution, biomerging, D-Reaper, you name it, he considered it. And of course, there was one thing he was considering right now, as Ryder felt the words he had spoken in the past escape his mouth without provocation.

"Maybe I should get some Goggles..." Ryder pondered, as another bored break time was passing by. His four fellow Tamers were nearby, either sitting on the bench he was on, or standing and watching. To one side of Ryder sat Ivy, her long blonde hair brushed up by the gentle winds as Lunamon sat on her lap, contemplating. On the other side sat the shortest of the three boys, with light brown hair. Leormon, his partner, lurked in the shadows nearby, watching. A taller boy (although still shorter than Ryder, who seemed to be taller than almost everyone) with short mid-blonde hair stood leaning against the back of the bench on one side, his partner, a Gaomon, also hiding in the shadows to avoid being noticed. Ryder reasoned that this was before their unintended unveiling to the school because of this. On the other side of the bench, mirroring the Gaomon Tamer, leaned a girl with short red hair, Lalamon floating above her head, but staying close so as not to arouse suspicion that she was more than a stuffed animal. In this school, even a stuffed animal looked odd: Britain was a world away from Japan in that respect.

"Ryder, that would not only make you look insane, but also, do you really think our school would let you wear that as well as the uniform?" the boy sitting next to Ryder said, catching Ryder's gaze.

"Yeah, I guess Marvin…" Ryder answered, sighing. Another of his ideas had been rejected. Reflecting on it, it wasn't exactly the best idea either.

"You could always wear sunglasses?" Ivy suggested, Ryder glancing to her with a light blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah…" Ryder answered nervously, as the other two boys rolled their eyes at the sight, previously thought to only be something of anime worlds until they began to notice the hints between the two.

"I don't think that could really match the Gogglehead style that way" Lunamon noted.

"Yeah, it's all about the Goggles…" Ryder joked, chuckling.

"Well, we can call you Gogglehead anyway if you want us to?" the other girl asked, a hint of teasing in her voice, not noticing the others' reactions to Ryder and Ivy's actions at all.

"Heh, if you want Melissa, but I prefer Ryder…" Ryder answered. "Still, every Digimon Leader is a Gogglehead…except Marcus, of course…"

"Hold on a second…" the other boy (leaning against the bench) interrupted. "I still have to ask, who made you the leader?"

"Douglas has a point…" Melissa noted, adding to the glares and glances now colliding with Ryder's head, as he looked around, not sure how to respond to his newfound spotlight in the group.

"Well…" he began, fishing for ideas in his mind. "I _was_ the first to get a Digimon…" Ryder answered. "And I am the first on scene at most of the battles…and I do know the most about all of this…" he rambled.

"Ryder, stop boasting…" Melissa complained.

"Yeah, it doesn't exactly suit you…" Ivy noted.

"You're only the first on the scene because you run all the time" Douglas commented.

"What, and none of you do?" Ryder asked, looking around at the others who shook their heads. A genuine look of surprise came to Ryder's face, surely they were joking?

"Nope, never needed to…" Marvin answered.

"Yeah, you do kinda always get there first Ryder" Ivy noted.

"Oh…" Ryder answered, realising they were being all-too serious. Did none of them really try to be hasty at all in getting to battles? Wasn't that like…a huge risk?

"….isn't time a factor in this kind of thing?" MiniDonmon asked. "You know, everyone dies otherwise and everything?"

"I know for a fact that you have arrived at battles before the fog has Ryder" Douglas noted.

Ryder chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I guess…hey, gets me exercise at least!" he joked, the others sighing.

"Have none of you really ever even tried to get to battles faster than walking pace then?" MiniDonmon asked, glancing around.

"Well…maybe…" Douglas noted. "But not running at full pelt though…plus, your partner can fly, why doesn't he fly you to battles?"

"Have you ever tried flying?" MiniDonmon joked. "It's hard enough without a heavy weight below…"

"Use your champion form then" Lunamon mooted. Ivy looked to Ryder, curious as to his response.

"I guess we could…although it would waste a lot of Donmon's energy…" Ryder noted, sitting back and pondering the situation.

Ryder's 'dream form' smiled, it was good to see them all again, the same as they always were. He and his partner MiniDonmon, the leader of the group with his trusty bat/dragon partner. Ivy and Lunamon: Ryder's kind love interest and her faithful rabbit-like partner. Douglas and his partner Gaomon, a good friend who could be slightly arrogant at times and his power-packed partner. Melissa and Lalamon: a girl who was sometimes slightly too easily irritated (although pleasant and considerate of people's feelings for the rest of the time), with her plant-like partner who proved her use both in and out of battle. And finally Marvin and Leormon: a smart tactical fellow and his sometimes battle-eager partner, both complimenting each others strengths.

A perfect team: Leader, love interest, powerhouse, carer and smart-guy.

And now it was missing him.

Ryder frowned, albeit no expression showing on his face as pondered where he recalled this conversation from.

Ryder's eyes widened, although once again nothing happened in reality, as he realised what day this was, his eyes opened to the truth.

'_This is the day I got lost in the Digital World…'_ he thought.

It had been a short while after Arkadimon had first attacked in his rookie form, and Donnermon had dealt with him. Arkadimon had escaped, but he'd been angry. On the way home from school, he had kidnapped Ryder, and during the following weekend, the other Tamers had been unable to find him. Ryder had been deposited in the Digital World while Arkadimon attacked his friends, which was the same time when Lunamon had first digivolved to Lekismon, holding him back. Ryder had managed to get back home by bioemerging like a Digimon during the same battle, and Ryder had felt that it was a continuation of how bad things happened to him. Nothing was the same ever again after that first trip to the Digital World, he had felt more mature once he had to deal with the fact that he had no food, no shelter and nothing but him and his partner. Still, it gave him first hand experience in their later trip to the Digital World as a group, which proved invaluable in their survival.

It was still a long while before they really settled down as a proper group, and tensions were still high between them because of this, although they were rarely truly at each other's throats. Good natured teasing was usually the subject of the day, and no-one took it particularly seriously.

"How long until break is over?" Lalamon asked. Melissa glanced at her D-Vice, frowning at the time.

"Five minutes" she answered.

Douglas groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Bored in break, bored in lesson, bored at home" Marvin noted.

"I want a battle, it always make things interesting…" Leormon noted, stepping quietly from the shadows.

The sound of bleeping D-Vices was music to his ears, as he sat up, fully stepping forth and looking to Marvin.

"And I want a girlfriend!" Ryder cheered, hoping that it was a magical form of power that was now granting wishes.

"And I want a million pounds…" Douglas said dryly, glancing to Ivy and back to Ryder as Gaomon stepped forth. "Shame neither will ever happen" he teased.

Ivy glanced up curiously, as she noticed the glare Ryder gave Douglas. "Huh, what's going on?" she asked, causing Ryder to pause and blush.

"Nothing, don't worry…" he said, as he changed the subject, MiniDonmon leaping off his shoulder. "Ready buddy?" he asked, hand on his D-Vice. The bat nodded, small fists being clenched.

"You betcha!" replied his partner.

"Great!" Ryder answered, tapping his D-Vice as he executed the digivolution program.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**MiniDonmon, Di…**

Suddenly, the world flickered, like someone had pulled out the plug, as it faded to black all of a sudden, Ryder looking around as he suddenly broke free from the vision and felt able to move again.

"What the…" Ryder began to curse, as all light faded. "No…" he said weakly, as he felt even his consciousness in his dream world begin to fade.

* * *

**Shinjuku General Hospital**

**05:10 JST**

Fumiko Imai yawned, as she entered the waiting room. She had been paged about Mari arriving by the receptionist, and it had surprised her that the girl had turned up. She hadn't called her or anything, she'd just turned up. Regardless, it was Mari's choice, and she had no problems with her seeing Ryder. As for Ryder himself, he had been mostly stable, only a few minor moves up and down in heart rate and state, and all of which were easily dealt with.

She noticed Mari's changed hair style. It wasn't too dramatic a change, primarily since her pony-tail was short and her hair was loose around her face still, although less neat as it had been previously. Maybe Mari was implying a literal change or something, or maybe she was reading too much into things. Fumiko gave a weak smile to the girl, who looked back to her, an odd mix of concern and determination in her eyes.

"Good morning" Fumiko greeted, Mari nodding in response. "You're here early?"

"Yeah…I spoke to someone and realised I should be here" Mari answered, leaving the identity in question.

Fumiko glanced to DarkRenamon, following her Tamer quietly and gracefully._'It must have been her partner who spoke to her'_. Fumiko smiled slightly, moving her gaze back to Mari.

Mari decided it was better if Dr Imai thought that it was DarkRenamon who had talked to her, rather than a figment of her own imagination looking like her boyfriend who was in a coma. Things were just easier that way.

"So…how is he?" Mari asked, cocking her head as curiosity and worry joined her growing list of tones in her voice and expression.

Dr Imai looked to her, smiling. "He's fine…I'll take you to him."

"Thanks."

Dr Imai led Mari back along the hallway, a now familiar hallway from the previous day's events. It was early in the morning, so there were no other visitors, but there were still staff pacing around. The fluorescent lights made the hospital always seem permanently stuck in a time between day and night, although most of the rooms themselves had their lights switched off to facilitate sleeping.

Dr Imai pushed the door to Ryder's room open, and held it for Mari, who, mouthing her thanks, stepped through and walked straight over to Ryder's bed, standing over it with a dejected pose. Dr Imai closed the door, and walked over to stand next to her.

'_He's still asleep…'_ Mari thought, a tinge of sadness in her thoughts, but balanced out by the relief he hadn't died. Her hand went out and gently stroked his cheek, before looking to his D-Vice on his arm, still active as ever, albeit flickering on and off from time to time.

Dr Imai put her hand on the girl's shoulder to reassure her, as Mari glanced up to her. Dr Imai nodded, and Mari looked back, lifting her hand away from him. She frowned, as Dr Imai checked the drips and readouts around him, checking for any faults. Thankfully, there were none.

"Everything is functioning norm…" she began, before pausing suddenly, tapping the heart rate monitor. Mari glanced to her, noticing her hesitation, before looking back to Ryder as her eyes widened. The beeps sped up, Dr Imai rushing around and grabbing defibrillator paddles as other doctors and nurses arrived.

"No..." Mari said weakly. It was happening again, he was dying. And she was going to lose him this time for sure, flukes never happen twice. A tear dripped down her cheek, as she watched them rush around. She felt so helpless. She was losing everything. She reached out, gripping his hand and holding tight, feeling his weakening pulse.

"He's crashing…" she heard Fumiko say, as zaps of electricity ran through him, followed by calls of "Clear". "No, not again!" Fumiko growled, before momentarily glancing up to see Mari clutching the boys hand as the electric shock ran through him.

Why wasn't she being electrocuted?

Mari's shield merged with Ryder's periodically; as she bent down to kiss him. The kiss was short, as the continuous bleep began, Fumiko breathing deeply to calm herself as she stopped defibrillating. Ryder's shield faded, breaking away as Mari let go of his hand, gradually moving hers away. "I love you…" she whispered sadly. "Ryder, I won't forget you…"

* * *

**Somewhere**

"I love you…Ryder, I won't forget you…" were the last words Ryder heard as his dream-consciousness faded, everything turning black as the darkness swept towards him. It was happening again. He wasn't sure what it was, but it tried to consume him. It was darker than anything in existence, and cold. No life came from it; it was the antipathy of life.

A faint light glinted in the darkness, Ryder's eyes snapping open to see something hidden in the dark. Several things.

Tiny lines, moved towards a central point, roaring as they did so, but it was nothing compared to the sounds to follow. The lines impacted in a compact supernova, far more energised than anything in existence. It erupted, blurring vision as it sucked light into itself and sending him in the opposite direction. His eyes widened as he flew back, the darkness now illuminated by lights as small squares began to assemble like pixels, into a blinding light that filled his vision as he felt a rush of senses returning to him.

He felt his lungs gasp for air, as the light continued. His ears rung, he felt numb all over. It slowly subsided, being able to begin hearing again soon enough.

"Ryder?" asked a desperate voice. "Ryder!" it continued.

"It happened again…" a voice noted from nearby, an unfamiliar female one that seemed to emit gravitas and wisdom, but mixed in with fear and bewilderment, along with speechlessness.

The bright light started to fade, faint outlines of auburn hair and a pale pink face beginning to come into view. "Ryder…" the voice called again. "Are you awake?" she asked. "Ryder…" she repeated, as he felt a hand on his head. Softly, gently, it touched near his eyes, and ran through his hair.

Ryder felt groggy. No, that didn't describe it. It was a lot worse than that. He felt incredible tiredness, well beyond anything conceivable to anyone else. Every limb ached, every part of his body in pain, the pain ironically numbed by pain itself. He struggled to open his mouth, uttering only one word that seemed to have crossed his mind: upon feeling the gentle touch, the beautiful outline of the face (although the hair was slightly different), the voice with loving and caring tones. It was her.

"Mari…" He wasn't even sure if he said what he thought he had or not, but he must have said something right, as he felt arms grip him and pull him into an embrace.

"Dr Imai, isn't that danger…" an intern began, noticing the hazardous sudden movement of the boy. Dr Imai gestured for the person to stop, raising her hand in objection. She nodded to confirm what the intern had said, but smiled as well. She couldn't break this up. Ryder didn't seem to be in any pain from it anyway.

As if responding to her thought, he winced slightly as Mari lifted him, proving her wrong.

"Sorry…" Mari apologised, as Ryder felt his vision clarify, staring into her eyes as she hovered over him, intently staring back. He noticed her changed hair, but decided that it was worth asking about later.

"Where...where am I?" Ryder asked, speechless at how everything had changed so quickly, and still feeling dazed.

"You're in hospital…" Mari said emotionally, smiling bravely in an attempt to reassure him. She wasn't sure whether he could see her clearly or not.

"Oh…" he replied quickly. "Oh…" he repeated, this time more in realisation.

Mari frowned; clearly everything was only just dawning on him. "Everything is going to be alright" she said, briefly glancing up to Dr Imai who nodded in agreement.

"Oh…good…" Ryder answered. The pair tilted their heads, moving forward and engaging in a deep kiss. Both had missed the other, one literally, one metaphorically. Worlds apart even when they were so close together. And both never wanted to be that far apart again. Ryder felt her arms cling around him, he himself feeling too weak to do the same.

When she pulled away from him, they simply smiled to each other for a while, before a thoughtful and confused look crossed Ryder's face.

"So…um…I've kinda been unconscious…I think…so…care to fill me in?"

"You were knocked by Mammothmon's trunk into a building" Mari answered, Ryder gradually understanding what she was saying, still feeling groggy and dazed by what had happened to him in the last few minutes.

"I see…" he uttered finally.

"MegaDonnermon and Youkomon took out the Mammothmon and the Bakamon, and an ambulance came to take you to hospital. I was so scared, I didn't know if you'd recover or not. I thought you could…die" she said, a tear dripping down her face. Ryder weakly raised a hand to wipe it away (although failing mainly, as his arm fell weakly back to the bed). Mari smiled weakly at the gesture.

"Don't cry…" he comforted, looking into her eyes.

She nodded in a mix of sadness and joy, continuing with what she was saying. "And then you did die" she said, Ryder pausing in surprise at what she had said. What on earth was she talking about? He died?

"Huh?" was all he said, perfectly voicing his confusion.

"You died Ryder…twice…once yesterday, once just now" she elaborated, further confusion coming to his expression as he tried to figure out whether this was a morbid joke or not.

"What are you talking about?"

Dr Imai stepped forward, her seniority confirming to Ryder that it was not a joke. "You had a textbook death, complete failure of all organs and no pulse. Even defibrillation didn't work. Even if you were alive, it would've killed you, not to mention the fact you died twice."

"So…I died? But…I'm alive now…I came back?" Ryder spluttered, confused.

"Yes Ryder…" Mari answered, as if she were a teacher explaining something to a pupil. "And when you were revived you uttered something about the darkness…the end…'there is nothing'…I wasn't sure what you meant…" she added.

"I spoke? When I was unconscious?" Ryder asked, surprised at what she was suggesting.

"It is not uncommon for a person to speak whilst in a coma, contrary to popular perception" Dr Imai explained, Ryder glancing to her as he listened to the new medical knowledge imparted to him.

"So…I actually died?" he asked, still amazed.

"Yes…and then you just…recovered…just like that…I have no idea how you did it…neither do you, it appears…" Mari answered, looking to Ryder as he slowly comprehends all of the information he had been told, taking it all in.

He had died. He had actually died. That was surprising enough, but on top of that, he'd somehow come back from the dead. How? Why? Who intervened? Was it something to do with the Angels? What did death feel like anyway? Would he have seen anything?

Ryder's eyes widened as he put two and two together, and he felt unable to speak as he realised what this all suggested.

"The Darkness…the end…I know what that means…" he began, staring down the bed, before hesitating and thinking about what was going on, as his eyes glazed over in thought, going through everything that he had seen and heard. "I recall it…I recall thinking and saying some of those things in my dream world…" he continued, finding it hard to talk through his amazement.

"So what are they?" Mari asked, enthralled by what Ryder was talking about. Her amazement was quickly subsided.

"Death…" Ryder answered, turning to her. His eyes were saddened, his mouth turning down at the edges as Mari comprehended the severity of what he was talking about. She was about to reply, but paused as Ryder's eyes widened. "Oh dear lord, there really is nothing!" he said in alarm, everything suddenly running into his mind and overloading his senses, as he sat up rapidly, attempting to breathe deeply but ending up with hasty breaths paced into the pattern.

"Ryder, calm down!" Mari said, as his heart rate increased on the machine. Mari gripped him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she tried to get his gaze onto her eyes. She found all fear about what he was talking about flee her mind as she concentrated entirely on him. It was an odd feeling of confidence she felt, confidence that was there despite the alarm of the boy she was looking at. Fear filled his eyes, before suddenly changing to terror.

"Shit…" Ryder cursed. "I killed someone…" he said, his eyes going wider than ever as he looked up into Mari's eyes in horror. Mari felt helpless in the face of Ryder's emotions, as she tried to stop them.

"No…" Mari began, but was interrupted. At any other time she would've complained about his interrupting, but this simply wasn't the time for that.

"I sent Taiki to nothing…that's worse than hell or anything…" Ryder said, his voice weakened and wavering in revulsion at himself.

"It was either him or us…" Mari tried to reassure, using an argument that others had used plenty of times the previous day. Ryder's breathing had become erratic and panicky, as he turned, looking into her eyes and trying to calm himself from his surging self-loathing.

"Then why didn't we make it us?" he asked, challenging the argument she was giving.

"Huh?" she asked, surprised at his reply.

"What makes us more important than him?" he asked.

"We're…we're fighting for good…" Mari replied, hearing her words waver in the face of his glare.

"How can we be sure of that?!" Ryder argued back, snapping at Mari.

Mari hesitated, wanting to reply but no knowing how, as Ryder sighed, his anger subsiding as he looked down at the bed sadly.

"Whatever I do, it always turns sour…" he moaned, speaking quietly and bluntly. "You should know that the most…" he added, his voice exasperated and frustrated.

Mari pulled him up into an embrace, a few drip wires breaking from his skin as she did so. He groaned as she did so, clutching his painful side and feeling his wounds, which had some stitches in them. Mari pulled away to let him see more clearly, as he looked down, frowning sadly at his injuries, placing his hand on them.

"God this is painful…" he complained, his voice on the edge of tears as he ran his hand along the tear.

"I know…I'm here for you…" Mari encouraged, her voice more confident and caring, as she placed her hand on his and pulled it away from his injuries.

"Thanks…" Ryder replied, a tear dripping down to be wiped away by Mari, who smiled to him bravely as she put her arms round him, albeit not pulling him close. His yelps of pain previously had taught her that that would be a bad move.

Dr Imai glanced around at those watching, frowning and gesturing for them to leave. Patients could die while these doctors and nurses were busy watching this emotional reunion. Some of them had remembered their duties and had already left, and the rest promptly followed after Fumiko's command. She looked back to the hospital bed with its occupant and the girl sitting on the side of it, pondering whether she herself should leave. She glanced to DarkRenamon, who shook her head smiling to reassure her that she wasn't intruding on anything. She nodded, continuing to watch as Ryder lay back down on the bed, Mari sitting on the side, nervously side-stepping around the question on her mind (or rather, one of them at least) and pondering whether to ask it. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Why did you freeze up?"

Ryder paused, the memories returning to him as he recalled his thoughts just before being hit. Sorrowful and depressed thoughts. "I ran out…I wanted to stop Mammothmon with retcon…and then let MegaDonnermon move in for the kill…and then I stopped. I saw Taiki, his partner, every single Digimon we've ever killed…and I hated myself for it. And then, I felt a sharp pain in my side…and then I entered a strange dream world."

"A…dream world?" Mari asked curiously at the concept. Ryder nodded in response. "What kind of dreams?" Mari inquired, curious both as to what he had seen, and to whether she could get answers to some of the questions raised by his sleep-talking.

"They were really vivid ones. Really real ones. And then one of them…two of them…collapsed suddenly during the dream, and then I got thrown out of the deep darkness that I was going towards by a huge explosion of light…that must have been it…that must have been my death…but…what stopped me dying?" Ryder asked, unfortunately straying back onto the saddening subject once again.

Mari shrugged slightly, shaking her head. "I was hoping that you'd know."

Ryder frowned, shaking his own head in response. "No idea…it's…it's pretty amazing though…" he said, voice going up to emphasise the awe.

"What did you see in these dreams? What happened?" Mari pressed, curious as to whether she could find out the answer to another of her questions, namely about a particular girl.

"I…I saw us when we met…and when I met MiniDonmon" he answered, Mari frowning in response. She hoped it wouldn't come to this, she hoped he'd explain it on his own.

"Ryder…it was more than that, wasn't it? I heard you say a name…you said Ivy…who's Ivy?"

Ryder's smile dropped into a frown, as he looked back into Mari's eyes._'Damn…'_ he thought. "Um…yeah, I had dreams about my old team…and…I saw my funeral and…hey, you don't happen to know anything about a feather or something, do you?" he asked, changing the subject slightly.

"A feather?" she asked, curious as to this. She'd never heard anything mentioned about something like that before.

"Yeah, it appeared on the spot I left…it was a red and orange feather, and it was beautiful. I gave it to Ivy and…"

"Huh? You gave it to Ivy?" Mari interrupted, tone of vexation in her voice.

"Yeah…they were really strange dreams, sometimes I was myself in them and reliving old memories, other times I was watching from a distance like a TV show. And then…then there was this one time, when I was actually able to walk around while events happened…I was in my house, and it was before my funeral…they all think I've died" he answered, frowning sadly and looking down to the bed at the last part.

Mari frowned, saddened by the thought, even if she didn't want Ryder to go back. She felt tinges of selfishness at that, but they were outweighed by his wishes for him to stay.

"And…Ivy arrived…I wasn't sure why at first, it was only later I figured out the whole funeral thing…and she came into my room and left this feather thing, saying she'd found it the previous time she'd been there. She spoke to me…well, not actually me, but she spoke kinda in a 'talking to someone who isn't really there' kind of way…and…I lifted the feather up and gave it back…and she took it thankfully. She didn't know it was really me though. I think I was a ghost" he explained.

Mari sighed slightly, she was never really sure what to think of the situation back in his home world as regards his old crush, and this seemed to be going beyond that into new illogical realms of confusion.

"Anyway, then I was suddenly at the funeral, and I saw the headstone. She had hope that I'd return…so there wasn't a date of death. It was all really…strange."

Mari nodded in agreement, albeit still slightly vexed by the situation. "Ryder, I think that was a dream. I mean, it couldn't actually be your world, could it?"

"Actually, I think it was real" Ryder replied, surprising her. Had he gone completely insane?

"Why?" she inquired.

Ryder frowned, swallowing a lump in his throat. He hoped he wouldn't have to tell her this. Unfortunately, being stuck in limbo had given him a chance to think, and he realised that they would never get anywhere if he didn't tell her the truth. Everything on television had told him that. If he didn't tell her now, she'd find out later from some other method with disastrous consequences for their relationship. She noticed his saliva-swallowing, and braced herself for something pretty big.

"Because I grabbed her hand…and she saw me…and we spoke…and then…and then…I'm going to admit this to you…we…we…" he said, pausing on the last part as Mari's eyes widened in realisation.

"Kissed?" Mari asked, a sharp tone in her voice as she looked to him, although the rest of her expression unchanged.

Ryder nodded sadly, quickly losing her gaze. He knew that he couldn't keep it a secret anyway. Mari frowned, before her expression turned to anger. She turned, walking away as DarkRenamon looked up in surprise. She paused at the door, turning back and speaking with spiteful tones only.

"I can't believe you…" she uttered quietly, leaving as DarkRenamon promptly followed her Tamer, gracefully as always.

Ryder groaned, falling back on the pillow. Even when he did the right thing, it still got him in trouble. Was there any right way of doing anything?

Was he ever meant to be happy?

* * *

**Shinjuku Park**

**05:39 JST**

The morning light shone across the park as the sun came out above the horizon and cast its rays diagonally on the trees, spreading shadows long and far. Across playground equipment soon to be used, across vagrants sleeping with nowhere else to go, across a small white and purple fairy sleeping in a tree, and across a familiar concrete utility closet, currently inhabited by only one creature.

Not the usual, however.

Renamon groaned, as the sun penetrated her eyelids and forced her to wake from her slumber. She felt groggy, assuming it was the result of chasing Realmon the previous day and generally being awake for long hours. She leaned against the back wall of the hideout, surprised at how deep a sleep she had had, normally staying at least a bit conscious in order to be able to protect herself or others in case they needed it.

She pondered how Guilmon could ever sleep in this place. The floor was solid, the wall was painful, her arms ached; she herself wasn't really sure why she'd gone to sleep here. Then again, Guilmon didn't sleep here any more either, not since he'd been able to use his Tamer's room. Well, he almost didn't sleep here any more; he did have to on occasion, either because Takato was away, or for other reasons.

Renamon yawned. Maybe the pains and aches were simply tiredness taking its toll for once. Still, she oddly felt happy and relaxed at the same time as her grogginess, as she peered out of the hideout, looking up and out over the park, appreciating the beauty of a summer's morning in their city as the light shone off the buildings and trees.

She pulled her legs closer, preparing to stand up, but felt something block their movement. Something solid that wouldn't budge, even when she repeated her movements.

An eyebrow rose, as she paused. _'How odd…'_ she thought, before reaching out to figure out whatever was stopping her standing up in her normal manner. She pushed it from one paw into another, noting its size as she moved to lift it with both paws. The object was smooth, and near-spherical (although it seemed more of a stretched sphere shape), as she felt it with her paws.

She lifted it in front of her, staring at it for a short while before her mind began to register what it was as the grogginess faded suddenly. She blinked a few times at the object. Black rings ran around its surface, the gaps in-between alternately filled by yellow and red colouring.

"Oh god no…" she noted, pressing a hand into it to check it was real, as she glanced down, and back to it.

Renamon stared at the digi-egg for a few moments, as everything began to add up in her mind.

This…this was going to take some explaining…

THE END

* * *

Oh, I do love continuing to surprise my readers (although some could've seen this one coming). A few things are now left unresolved for the next fic to cover. The next book is Book Six: Tricks, and will start to be published soon (once I finish planning it all out and everything). Please review, I'd like to know what people felt of how I dealt with everything in this chapter.

I also plan to get out another chapter of _Deviations_ too for all of those fans out there eager to read the next instalment.

Yes, I am aware of the fact this Book, intended to be a shorter one than Book Four, is actually the same length. Ah well, it's good all the same.

And now, a little preview of what is to come in this epic saga…

(Cue dramatic music, anything from the new Doctor Who or Torchwood series will do, or anything else that's dramatic. 'All the Strange, Strange Creatures' (for slower readers), 'The Futurekind' (for medium-speed readers) or 'The Master Tape' (for fast readers, since it's not that long a song) from the Dr Who Series 3 OTS would do best. Or, you know, you could listen without music, and lose some of the dramatics. Meh, do whatever you want.)

**COMING UP ON DIMENSIONS…**

"**We are at war…"**

"**Can you really do it? Could you kill her? Even if you killed him, I don't believe you have the guts."**

"**Be it one Demon, or all of us, the results will be the same…"**

"**Ten Angels, Nine Demons…perhaps the odds are against us…or are they?"**

"**You all have secrets…things which you keep so secret that they prevent you from ever finding happiness…I'm doing you a favour…"**

"**You wanted a way home…now take it!"**

**A boy, afraid of the duties he will soon have to fulfil, and yet knowing he will have to be by her side, as well as by his partner's side…**

"**How…could…you?"**

**A dino, trying to protect his partner from things beyond his control, and also having to contend to a conundrum regarding his love…**

"**You have EXACTLY 5 seconds to run before I personally destroy every single last piece of your data."**

**She, split between protecting her lover, her partner and their respective partner/lover, the situation worsening when her deepest, darkest secret becomes clear to her, as well as another problem…**

"**I'm sorry…"**

**She, knowing that her idea for one night has lead to events that will spiral out of her control, and feeling that she lacks anyone by her side, even when he, she and the Angels are at her side…**

"**Traitor!"**

**The First Angel, knowing that he doesn't even belong in the universe he has ended up in, and keeping his deepest secret merely to maintain his existence, and not destroy their lives, particularly not hers…**

"**I'm going after him! Even if it kills me…"**

**She, watching as her love takes so much punishment, and have his life twisted out of control, even when it is his own choice, as soon as he feels he has found what he is looking for, a life, with friends, allies, and a partner to fight alongside…**

"**I'm coming with you…"**

**He, having to stand alongside as his Tamer pays the ultimate price, and stare on as he is prevented from finding more about feelings that have manifested about her…**

"**Everyone never thinks twice about me…that I could be deeper than it seems…"**

**She, stuck in the middle of a triangle and seeing everything that happens in it, yet with no idea of what to do about it, to go with either him, or him…**

"**Mari…um…I need some advice…"**

**He, the (un)lovable joker who suddenly has to contend with both the consequences of his actions, and the new found feelings he has about another, while at the same time keeping his Tamer from thinking that he can just stand back from the oncoming war and have it all turn out fine…**

"**Momentai!"**

**He, having to deal not only with protecting his friends, but also supporting them when the battles become nearly impossible…**

"**We have one minute before it's all over…isn't there anything we can do?"**

**She, feeling an un-discussed guilt for what happened in the past (as does her partner), and who lets it nearly kill her…**

"**Grab my hand!"**

**He, who takes sacrifices for others without considering how it will affect him in the process…**

"**This is our last chance!"**

**She, who lets an obsession with things being 'black and white' prevent her from seeing that nothing is ever as simple as 'good and evil'…**

"**No…you can't be…it just…isn't true…"**

**He, who finds himself fighting in a war beyond a last second reprieve…**

"**We really need a miracle…"**

**She, who finds herself having to care for those who have lost their world…**

"**I really don't know how to help…"**

**She, hopeful in a world where all hope is lost…**

"**How can you give up?!"**

**She, finding herself lost in time and wandering forever, her only confider in her secret depression being her partner…**

"**I have to stop this before it happens!"**

**She, knowing that her Tamer is hiding more than she lets on, and being unable to do anything about it…**

"**Rey, are you sure you really want to do this?"**

**He, feeling alone in a world where everyone else is moving on…**

"**Turns out there are a lot more to people than it seems Patamon…"**

**They, fighting a losing battle in a world without their leader…**

"**You can mourn him forever Ivy, but we have to fight now…"**

**He, finding himself in a world different to that in which he grew up…**

"**Tel…e…vision?**

**He, a powerless figure in a world where all around can do anything…**

"**Every day I see Rey, I see Ryder, I see all of them, fighting to save the world, and I'm useless…and I hate all of them…"**

**Everyone, entering a new world of war, of death and misery, all by their 'Lord and Master's' hands…**

"**One day…it'll all be back to normal…"**

"**The Angels can believe what they want; it is all over…this world is pushed into darkness…"**

"**It's what you always wanted, isn't it?"**

"**I've done a lot of thinking, and learnt a lot of new things…and…I've decided to tell you all the truth…you may not like it though…"**

**All's fair in Love and War…**

_**DIMENSIONS**_

_The truth…is far worse than what it seems…_

"**Whatever happens…"**

Until next time…


End file.
